iProm
by inkblot hearts
Summary: Sam and Freddie have been dating since the beginning of senior year. When prom week comes around, Sam thinks she might be flying solo at prom when she finds out she has competition. This was partially inspired by Rachim from the iCarly Wikia.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: Second/ third attempt at Seddie. I started to write another one, but when this idea came up, I just combined the two stories.**

**I do not own iCarly. It all belongs to Schneider's Bakery.**

Mondays were always a pain for Sam. She hated waking up early, and she hated schlepping down to school. The only things that made school bearable were Carly and Freddie. Most of her classes were with Carly, but she had all her study halls with Freddie. At the beginning of the year, when they finally established that they were a thing, she convinced him to sneak into the back room in the library and spend their study halls there. Sam came up with that plan so that no one would bother them and ask stupid questions about why they were dating. Carly, Spencer, and Gibby knew, but that was it. And after Gibby's wide-eyed, "But you guys hate each other!" reaction, they felt best to keep their relationship private. Not even Freddie's mom knew.

Standing by her locker, she checked the time on her phone. 30 seconds left until her Italian sausages were cooked to perfection.

Carly came up behind her. She saw the smoke coming out of Sam's locker and gave her a look. "What are you cooking this time?"

Just then, Sam's phone went off. She quickly opened her locker, and lifted the cover of her Gary Coleman grill. "Tada!" she said loudly, gesturing to her locker.

Carly looked inside. "Really?"

"You're surprised?" Sam laughed a little.

"I'm only surprised it's not steak," Carly said.

"It's Monday. I only eat steak on Wednesdays, so I can get over the hump." She speared a sausage on a fork.

"The hump?"

"Wednesday? Humpday? It's the middle of the week!" She took a bite of sausage. "Steak is my comfort food, and sausages are my energy food. They help me get through Mondays so I can go home and sleep."

Carly shook her head smiling, and opened her locker.

"And whenever I need a little extra energy, it's usually beef jerky," Sam added.

"Unless you need something sweet, then it's a Fat Cake," said a voice from Sam's right. Freddie had come up from his locker down the hall.

"Hi, Freddie," Carly said, peering around her locker door.

"Hey," he replied to Carly. He leaned against the wall and smiled at Sam. "Italian sausage?"

"Yep," she said, taking another bite.

"Should've known. Last week it was _chorizos_." He said _chorizos_ in his Spanish accent, rolling his r's, which made Sam smile.

Sam didn't know what exactly it was about Freddie that made her heart thump like crazy, but she didn't question it. One thing she knew she liked was that he had multiple grins. Anyone who knew Freddie casually would think he had one grin. But Sam knew he had several. One particular grin was reserved specifically for her. She'd never seen him look at anyone else the way he looked at her.

Freddie, on the other hand, knew exactly what he liked most about Sam: her confidence. She was loud, meat-loving, violent, and funny, and she didn't care. She always put herself out there for the world to see, as if to say, "This is who I am. Love me, or love me more." Or rather, "Love me, or stay away from me before I shove your head into a toilet."

"So, what's Sam Puckett's lunch going to be today?" Freddie asked. This was a joke between them. Ever since they'd started dating, Sam seemed a lot hungrier than usual. Last Tuesday, her lunch consisted of chicken noodle soup (with extra chicken), two hot dogs, a double cheeseburger with bacon, three cylinders of Dingles chips, two plastic baskets of curly fries, and five Fat Cakes.

"It won't be as epic as last week's feast," Sam said, swallowing a mouthful of sausage and poking her fork into another. "But I do have a ham steak in my mini-fridge." She patted her mini-fridge lovingly.

"So, what, you just bring food from home and stick it in there?" Carly asked, closing her locker.

"Yup," Sam said, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a plastic bag of ribs. "These are for Friday." She put them inside her fridge.

The PA system crackled and then spoke throughout the school. "Attention, seniors. This week, prom tickets will go on sale during lunch and before homeroom. The last day to buy tickets will be this Friday, and prom itself will take place on Saturday. This year's theme is a masquerade ball. Also, when you're buying your tickets, you can write on a list provided whom you would like to sit at your table."

"Ooh, prom!" Carly said, looking at Sam. "You gonna go?"

Sam shrugged. "Yeah, maybe." She looked at Freddie, who raised his eyebrows.

"Really?" he asked. "I didn't peg you as the prom-type of girl."

"Yeah, but just because I don't wear skirts doesn't mean I don't like getting glammed up once in a while," she said matter-of-factly, shutting her locker. She turned to Carly. "Remember that pink ball gown I wore in the Miss Teen Seattle Pageant? I looked pretty smokin' in that, huh?"

"That was a great dress," Carly agreed.

"It was," Freddie chimed in. "I saw the pics on iCarly."

Sam polished off her sausage and stuck her empty fork in her pocket. "Random question," she said, looking at Freddie, "if you didn't peg me as a prom girl, who were you gonna go to prom with?"

Freddie shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I would've gone stag."

"Hey, that could be a fun poll on iCarly," Carly said. "It could be prom-themed. Like, 'who's your dream prom date?' or 'what's your ideal prom theme?'"

"A carnival," Sam said immediately. "That's my prom theme."

"Not bad. I can picture that," Carly said, hitching up her bag onto her shoulder more securely.

"If you want a tricky prom question," Sam said, "how about 'what is better than going to prom?'"

"Ooh, that is tricky," Carly said.

"What _is_ better than going to prom?" Freddie asked.

"One answer has to be lame, though," Sam said. "Like, 'stay home with my whatever number of cats.'"

Carly laughed. "That's good. What would the other options be, though?"

"Well, what would do you instead of prom that would be better? Carly?" Freddie asked.

"Oh God," Carly said. "I don't know. It'd have to be epic. Like going to the Worldwide Studios theme park in Hollywood and riding the Spinna-Spider-Wheel 'til I puke or something."

"Been there, done that, must do again," Sam said. "Good one, Carls. Freddy-o?" Sam turned to face Freddy and leaned against her locker.

Freddie let out a puff of air. "Uhhhhh... jeez. I'd, um..."

"Any day, now," Sam said.

Freddie gave her a look but went on, "I would... oh, go to that indoor water park in Fresno, Vast Fox. I went when I was a kid. They have an arcade, and this thing called Magic Journey, where you get a wand that when you point it at stuff, it makes it light up, and you play this big scavenger hunt around the resort with it."

"Wow! That place really exists?" Carly asked excitedly.

"Yeah, now I feel like going," Sam said.

Freddie grinned. "Sam?"

"Let's see... if I weren't going to prom... I'd go race go-karts at the Wheelie-O and chow on corndogs," Sam said.

Freddie looked impressed. "Nice. Feel like skipping prom and doing that instead?"

"Shoosh yeah!" Sam said, pumping her fist in the air. "But I'm not paying for the corndogs."

"Seriously?" Freddie asked.

"Nah," Sam said, laughing. "Even Pucketts need one night when they feel all sizzlin' hot."

She licked her finger, put it to her butt, and made a sizzling sound. Freddie laughed.

The first bell rang, which caused the people around them to scatter and head to homeroom. Unfortunately for Carly, Sam, and Freddie, they all had a different homeroom.

"Later, guys," Carly said as she headed to her class.

"Bye, Carlotta," Sam said, waving.

"_Adiós_," Freddie said.

After Carly left, Freddie glanced around to see that the entire hallway had emptied. Freddie looked down at Sam, who was still leaning against her locker.

"So, you really wanna go to prom?" Freddie asked her as he scooped her hand up and laced his fingers with hers.

She nodded. "Yeah. I wanna actually feel like Princess Puckett for one night of my life."

Freddie nodded, leaned down, and kissed her softly. "Good to know," he said. He started to walk away.

"Wait, wait." Sam started to go after him. "What does 'good to know' mean?"

Freddie turned around. "It means 'good to know'."

"Nyeh."

"Nyehhh. Bye, Sam." He walked backwards as he talked to her, and then turned around after he said good-bye.

Sam, still shaking her head and chuckling a little, headed off to homeroom. This was another thing Sam liked about their relationship. Dating or not, they were still the same Sam and Freddie, still teasing each other.

**A/n: Vast Fox is a parody of a real-life resort called Great Wolf. I went to one of the resorts in the Poconos, and they legit have an arcade, indoor water park, and that scavenger hunt with the wands (called MagiQuest). But I don't believe they have a resort in Fresno (there's one in Garden Grove that's supposed to open in a couple years).**

**R&R plz!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Unlike my other incomplete stories, I'm actually trying to get this one done and posted consistently.**

**Again, I don't own iCarly. If I did, it would probably be called iSam, because she's a more kickass character.**

Carly was trying to open her front door, which would've been easier if she didn't have a heavy stack of prom magazines in her arms. Finally, she used her elbow to jimmy the door handle and opened the door with her hip.

As she expected, Spencer was home. He was at the kitchen table working on what seemed to be a giant piece of white leather. He looked up and at Carly struggling to get through the door.

"Hey, kiddo," he called.

"Hey," Carly said, getting to the couch and dumping the magazines on it.

Spencer pointed at the magazines. "What are those?"

"Prom magazines," Carly said, shedding her backpack.

"Ah, prom," Spencer said, getting a dreamy look in his eye. "Did I ever tell you what happened at my senior prom?"

"Yes, you did," Carly said monotonously. "You bought a tux that was too short, your prom date was a blind date with Wendla with the mole, and when you called her that to her face, she threw punch in your face."

Spencer paused. "So I've told you that story?"

"Yeah-huh." Carly went to the fridge to get a can of Wahoo Punch. "Sam's coming over so we can start planning for prom."

Spencer looked up. "Really? Sam's going to prom?"

"Yeah. Even Pucketts need one night when they feel all sizzlin' hot."

"Is she going with Freddie?" Spencer asked.

"Looks like it." She put her can of punch on the kitchen island. "What are you working on? New sculpture?"

"New sculpture and something of a science experiment." He turned away from his giant piece of leather, and joined Carly at the island. "I want to see if I can make art that floats."

Carly just looked at him. She opened her can of punch and drank from it, still looking at Spencer.

"Well, okay then." Carly set her can of punch down and went to restack the prom magazines she brought home. When she'd dumped them from her arms, they'd fallen all over the place.

"So, when you mean plans for prom, do you mean after prom, too?" Spencer asked in a would-be casual voice.

"Ummm." Carly sat down on the couch. "I don't know. I didn't think of that. We probably should, just so we have a plan."

Spencer nodded, and returned to his sculpture.

Carly shifted in her seat. "Are you nervous about me going to prom?"

"Yeah, a little." He moved away from the table again and leaned against the countertop. "I mean, I'm sure you'll do the right thing, but still anything can happen, and I want you guys to be prepared. Not just you, but Sam, Freddie, and whichever guy you're taking."

"Yeah, you're right," Carly said. "I'll make sure we have a plan for after prom."

Spencer nodded. "Thanks."

Just then, Sam came charging through their door. "What goes on, Shays?"

"You ready to talk prom?" Carly asked, standing up.

"Let's do it," Sam said, bouncing towards the stairs. Carly began to scoop the magazines up from the couch. Sam watched her for a while before rolling her eyes, walking over and taking the magazines from Carly, before charging up the stairs.

Carly glanced at Spencer. "I have no idea how she does it."

Spencer shrugged. He walked to the kitchen island as Carly was heading up the stairs, then shouted, "Are you gonna finish your Wahoo Punch?"

"Oh, yeah, thanks," Carly said, doubling back downstairs. Spencer handed her the can and said, "Don't spill it anywhere."

"Bleuhhh."

"Bleehhhhh."

* * *

><p>SAM'S POV<p>

After putting the magazines on Carly's bed, I decided to look through one of them while I was waiting for Carly to come up. I didn't really have an idea of what kind of dress I wanted, but all I knew is that I wanted the dress to be a knockout.

Carly came in with her can of Wahoo Punch and plopped down next to me on the bed. "Soooo," she said, "do you know what dress you want?"

"Nope. I'm just gonna look through all these and see if anything stands out." I shifted so I was lying on my stomach on the bed. "All I know is that I want a really great color."

"Do you know what Freddie's wearing?" Carly asked.

"No. Why?"

"Because sometimes when you go to a prom, he'll color coordinate with you."

"But he's a guy. I'm sure he won't care unless I pick a girly color, and I swore that after the Miss Teen Seattle Pageant, I'd never wear pink again, even if I did feel hot in it."

Carly giggled.

"I'm probably gonna go with something like fire-engine red. That'll make a splash."

"Oh, wait, before I forget," Carly began, sitting cross-legged on her bed, "Spencer wants us to talk about a plan for after prom."

"Why do we need a plan?" I put the magazine face down on Carly's bed, right at the page I was just looking at.

"In case things get out of control. Spencer told me about his senior prom-"

"When he went on a blind date with Wendla with the mole in his too-small tux?"

"Yup."

"I thought he didn't do anything after prom, though."

"He didn't. After Wendla threw punch in his face, he went home. But his friends went to a party after prom, and things got, well, out of hand."

"Out of hand how?" I sat up.

"People got into fights, some wound up in the hospital, and others saw stuff that... um, scarred them for life."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Carly said somewhat ominously. "He wouldn't say."

I raised my eyebrows. "So he wants us to make a plan so we can avoid bad things that can happen after prom, but we don't even know what to avoid?"

"We know some of it. We can avoid getting into fights and ending up in the hospital."

"Well, I can't promise I won't get into a fight-"

"Sam."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll try."

Carly picked up another magazine and looked through it. I picked up the one I'd been reading before and spread it in front of me.

"Ooh, hey, I like this one," Carly said, laying the magazine down and pointing to a shamrock-green halter dress.

"Oh, yeah, that's nice." I reached down for my backpack, which was at the foot of Carly's bed and pulled out a black marker and a plastic bag of turkey legs. I handed Carly the marker. "Here. Mark the dress, so you don't forget it."

"Good idea. But please don't get any turkey grease on my bedspread," Carly said, circling the green dress.

"I'll do my best," I said, tearing out a chunk or turkey and chewing it happily.

Carly and I flipped through the pile of magazines all afternoon. Carly circled eight more dresses; one in particular was a soft light blue that Carly said would complement her skin tone. I found nothing as I wolfed down my turkey legs. When we got to the last magazine, I was ready to give up and look for a dress online when Carly flipped to the fourth page.

"That's it! That's it," I exclaimed. I took the marker from Carly, and circled a dress with a sweetheart neckline in a rich blue color. It wasn't fire engine red, but it popped nonetheless. I looked at the shopping details for the dress. I could get it at Pacy's for 55 bucks. Not bad. Carly's light blue dress cost 89 bucks.

Then, my phone went off. I wiped my hands on my jeans and fished it out of my pocket. Freddie was texting me.

"Who's that?" Carly asked.

"Freddie. He's checking in to see how the dress hunt is going." I pressed my camera button. "I'll send him a picture of the dress."

"Good idea."

I snapped a picture of the dress in the magazine and pressed "send". Carly and I ripped out the pages with the dresses we wanted.

"I'm not sure which dress I should go with. It's between the green halter or the light blue strapless," Carly said, looking at both dresses.

"Go with the light blue one. It'll 'flatter your skin tone,'" I made air quotes, "and it'll suit your twiggy little frame."

"I'm not a twig!" Carly whacked me playfully with one of the magazines.

My phone went off again. Freddie texted back.

"Freddie?" Carly asked.

"Yup. He says, 'wow. can't wait to see how it looks on you. ttyl.'"

"Aww," Carly said, smiling. "That's so sweet."

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

This was something I'd worried about a little when I found out Sam and Freddie were together. I was hoping they wouldn't become this nauseatingly mushy couple. Thankfully, they weren't. Sam's always said that she hates those mushy, sappy girlfriends, and that she will never become one.

**R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: Blah, blah, blah, don't own iCarly, blah, blah, blah, belongs to Dan Schneider, blah.**

**If you can guess what TV show Spencer's watching in this chapter, you get a cookie. Well, no, not really.**

When Carly and Sam were done looking through the prom magazines, it was 6:30. Carly decided to go with the light blue dress. She and Sam would go shopping for them later this week.

Carly decided they all needed a plan for after prom, and Sam said they needed to plan the next iCarly, which they had to rehearse the next day. She texted Freddie and they agreed to plan at the Groovy Smoothie in half an hour.

"Are you gonna go with someone?" Sam asked, as they headed downstairs.

"I want to, yeah," Carly replied. "I'm just waiting for the right guy to ask me."

Sam waggled her eyebrows. "You have a guy in mind?"

Carly smiled a little. "Yeah, maybe."

"Well, you should ask him."

"Sam, it's prom, not the Girls' Choice dance."

"There's nothing wrong with a girl asking a guy to prom. It's not like you're asking him to marry you."

They reached the living room. Spencer was watching TV where a group of people were inside what looked like a diner, three guys and two girls. One girl was a redhead was holding a pair of pink panties. The other girl, who was blonde, said, "By the way, your car smells like cheese," and left.

"What are you watching?" Carly asked, sitting next to him.

Spencer shrugged. "Some show. I think it's about the 80's or something."

One of the dark haired guys on the show said to the redhead, "Donna, look, you have to believe me, I have no idea whose panties those are."

Sam made a whine-y noise. "Hate that word."

Then, an older woman with blonde hair rushed in and said, "Donna! Those panties are mine." She took the panties from the redhead.

The two other guys completely flipped out. "ERIC! OH! OHHH! YOU ARE A GOD!" They bowed down on their knees. "A GOD, I SAY!"

Spencer and Carly were laughing. Sam left after she heard "panties" the first time, and had her head in the fridge.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm still laughing at it," Carly said.

"Yeah, I don't really know what happened either," Spencer said.

The door opened and Freddie walked inside. "It's me, don't shoot."

"Fredster, what up?" Spencer called.

"Hey, Spence. Carly."

Sam surfaced from the fridge with a tupperware of chilli. "Fredd-ay!"

"Hey." He smiled, went over to her, and kissed her. He looked at the tupperware. "Cold chilli?"

"It's the best," Sam said, pulling a spoon out of her pocket, dipping it in, and taking a bite.

Carly stood up from the couch. "Sam, we were gonna head to the Groovy Smoothie, is now really the time to fill up on our chilli?"

"There is never a wrong time to fill up on chilli!" Sam declared, sticking her spoon in the air. Freddie laughed a little and slipped his arm around her waist.

Carly sighed. "We really should just send all of our chilli to your house so you don't have to raid our fridge as often."

Sam's eyes widened. "Could you do that?"

Carly laughed. "Yeah, sure. Now, let's go smoothie it up."

"Okey-doke!" Sam put the lid back on the chilli and put it back in the fridge. "I'll come back for the chilli."

"Off to the Groovy-o Smoothie-o!" Carly exclaimed.

Sam and Freddie cheered as they joined Carly walking out the door.

"Bring me home a smoothie?" Spencer called.

"Maybe," Carly called back. She closed the door.

Spencer stared at the closed door. "What does 'maybe' mean?"

* * *

><p>"So far, we have a new Hey What Am I Sitting On, a new George the Bra ghost story, and wer're bringing back the Blab Cam," Freddie said, ticking off each item on a list in his Pearphone. "What else we got?"<p>

"Gibby wants to do his Doctor Lobster bit," Carly said.

"Gross," Sam said, making a face. "We already had to cut him a few times, can't he take a hint?"

Carly gave her a look. "Sam."

Sam then started slapping the table excitedly. "We should make Gibby wrestle a chicken instead!"

Freddie looked at her. "Where would we get a chicken?" He took a sip of his smoothie.

Sam shrugged. "We can call Nora."

Freddie sniggered. Carly smiled.

"Look," Carly said, "Gibby can do his Doctor Lobster bit at the beginning of the show. It'll be over and done with."

"Ugh, fine," Same finally agreed.

"So, we're adding Doctor Lobster to the show." The buttons on Freddie's Pearphone clicked as he added that to his list. "Sam, didn't you want to do another Random Debate?"

"Oh, yeah, donkeys vs. whipped cream."

Carly laughed. "I call whipped cream."

"Done. But what do we use to debate?"

"Hmmmm. We already used the swings, should we break out the mini trampolines again? We never used those in a Random Debate."

"I'm down," Sam said, offering Carly a fist bump. Carly fist bumped in return.

"Okay, Random Debate is added." Freddie said, clicking around on his phone. "We also have some clips we can play, like the one of the kid dunking a watermelon in his basketball hoop."

"How many clips do we have?" Carly asked.

"I think three."

"Okay, we'll use those clips. Should we add one more bit to the show?"

"Can we make something explode again with pressurized air?" Sam asked. "Like a box full of Bambi dolls?"

Carly looked at Sam funny, as if she was torn between laughing or fearing for Sam's sanity. "Is this so you can watch people blow up?"

"Yeah!" Sam wrenched the lid off her smoothie and chugged.

"We could do that," Freddie said, looking through his phone. "Oh, wait, the show would be over by about two minutes."

Sam wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "What would we need to cut?"

"We can cut one of the clips and use it next week."

"Keep the kid dunking his watermelon, though," Sam said.

"Okay. We're all set for Wednesday." Freddie put his phone away.

"Great," Carly said. "Okay, we should have some sort of plan for after prom now. Spencer told me he wants all of us to be careful."

Freddie nodded. "So, what should be in this plan?"

"We should have our cell phones on us at all times in case we get separated," Carly said. "And we should have a five-minute rule for after prom parties."

"Five-minute rule?" Sam asked.

"We go to a party for five minutes. If it seems okay and somewhat safe, we stick around. But if it doesn't seem safe, we leave."

"That's good," Freddie agreed.

"How are we getting to prom?" Sam asked, licking her straw.

Carly paused. "We can call a limo company."

"Wait," Sam interjected. "What if one of us wants to leave a party, but the rest of us wanna stay? Majority wins?"

"We could flip a coin," Freddie suggested.

"We should switch it up this time," Carly said, getting an idea. "Instead of majority wins, minority wins."

Sam nodded. "Sounds good."

"Oh, wait," Freddie said. "I wanna add one more rule for parties."

"What?" Carly asked.

"Never drink the punch."

"Why not?"

Freddie looked seriously at Carly and Sam. "Never drink the punch," he said in a low voice.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Carly dragged Sam away from her morning fried chicken to buy prom tickets. The line was pretty long, so they were waiting behind Gibby.<p>

Carly poked Gibby in the back to get him to turn around. "Hey, Gib. You going to prom?"

"Yup," he said somewhat proudly. "Taking Tasha."

"Is she even still in high school?" Sam asked.

"Nope. I went to her senior prom last year." He made a sour face.

"What, you didn't have fun?" Carly asked.

"Their theme was 'Under the Sea'. I thought that meant we had to show up in our bathing suits, but noooooooo. I was the only guy in swim trunks there."

Sam snorted with laughter. Carly gave her a "be nice" look before turning back to Gibby, who'd finally reached the table and put money down for two tickets.

"Well, do you and Tasha want to sit at our table?" Carly asked.

Sam made a noise somewhere between a groan and a whine. Carly turned around. "What was the look I just gave you?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, we'll sit at your table," Gibby said, nodding.

"Just make sure you wear clothes," Sam warned.

Gibby looked at her. "Are you even going to prom?"

"Yeah, I am," Sam replied, looking Gibby in the eye.

Gibby looked surprised. "Oh... okay." He walked away.

Sam turned to Carly. "Why is everyone so surprised about me going to prom?"

"Well, you can't blame them," Carly said, paying for her ticket. "It doesn't sound very you."

"How does getting dressed up, dancing, and getting free food not sound like me?" Sam asked, taking out her wallet.

"Maybe it's the getting dressed up part of it." Carly began writing down who she'd like at her table.

Sam nodded. "Maybe."

"Did Freddie buy his ticket yet?" Carly asked, as they walked back to their lockers.

"I don't think so," Sam replied, thinking back. "I haven't seen him here yet."

A strangled yell filled the air, and Freddie was running in Sam and Carly's direction. He crashed into the wall next to Sam's locker. His hair and shirt were a mess, and one of his sleeves was torn.

"Dude, what happened?" Sam asked.

Freddie was panting. "Prom - is dangerous!"

"What do you mea-?" Carly began.

Suddenly, a girl cried out, "There he is!"

A crowd of girls rushed forward, pulled Freddie away from Carly and Sam and engulfed him. Freddie was yelling senselessly, and all the girls seemed to saying the same thing: "Who're you taking to prom, Freddie?" "Wanna go to prom, Freddie?" "You're still single, right, Freddie?"

Carly leaned towards Sam. "Looks like your boyfriend's very popular," she said in a singsong voice.

Sam looked at her. "Shhhhhh-hhhh! We're still keeping it a secret, remember?"

Sam looked at the mob of girls, then handed her backpack to Carly. "I'm going in."

She backed up to the other side of the hallway for maximum distance. She took deep breaths to control her energy. _Breathe in, breathe out._

Sam let out a shreiking battle cry and ran straight into the mob without a fight. Girls were being pushed out of the crowd, and a few seconds later, Sam emerged dragging Freddie by the arm. His hair was an even bigger mess, and his other sleeve was torn.

Sam let him go, and turned to face the mob. "Cheese and rice!" she yelled. "It's just prom! You don't need to riot over a guy!"

The girls just looked at Sam. Some were shocked, some were angry that Freddie had been pulled out of the mob.

"Bye!" Sam said, waving them away.

The girls glared at Sam, but walked away. Some still looked wistfully at Freddie, mouthing, "Call me," at him.

After they'd gone, Sam turned to Freddie. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Freddie said, straightening his shirt out.

"Those girls kinda freaked me out," Carly said. "They were like those girls at Webicon last year."

"Awww," Freddie said loudly. "They tore my shirt sleeves!" He looked at them. "I'm telling you, these biceps are a curse!"

"The power of the biceps," Sam said, looking at his arms.

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

The power of the biceps indeed.

**A/n: Freddie last line ("I'm telling you, these biceps are a curse!") is a reference to the TV show Spencer was watching at the beginning of the chapter.**

**[/random]**

**R&R, plz!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: In case you couldn't guess it, Spencer was indeed watching **_**That 70's Show**_** in the previous chapter. (I'm glad people noticed. **_**That 70's Show**_** is one of my favorite rerun shows.)**

**I do not own iCarly. But I do own a burgundy ballpoint quill.**

Rehearsal for iCarly went smoothly, apart from Sam breaking one of Gibby's Doctor Lobster claws after she tripped over it. She swore up and down that it was an accident (all while crossing her fingers behind her back), and Gibby left.

"Success!" she yelled, flopping onto one of the beanbags.

It was only 5:30, so Carly suggested they go down to a 99-cent store down the street to buy their masquerade masks for prom. They'd tried to go down to the lobby through the freight elevator, but after a few minutes it still hadn't come up to the studio, so they gave up and took the stairs downstairs.

When they got to the living room, the mystery of the elevator was solved. Spencer was trying to heave a large wad of spongy-looking material into the apartment. The wad barely fit inside the elevator, so Spencer was having a hard time getting it all out.

Carly watched her brother pull and pull, letting out yells of frustration. "For the sculpture?" she asked.

Spencer leaned against the wad to catch his breath. "Yeah." He took a few steps back to look at the whole thing. "I think I need to take it apart and glue it back together when I get it inside. Where's the chainsaw I used to carve that giant pumpkin a few years ago?" He made his way to his bedroom.

Sensing danger, Carly grabbed Spencer by his arms. "No! Do not use the chainsaw!"

"I gotta! I need to get this done!" Spencer ran into his room.

Carly looked worried. She looked around, and saw some paper on the countertop next to the computer. She ran to it, and began writing something down. She called to Spencer, "I'm leaving Dr. Doty's phone number in case something bad happens! Just remember to keep whatever wound you get wrapped up in a paper towel until you get some gauze out of the first aid kit!"

"Nothing bad's gonna happen!" Spencer yelled from his room.

"Let's hope!" Carly yelled back. She turned to Sam and Freddie. "Let's go. I don't wanna see this."

* * *

><p>The 99-cent store was called "Yesterday". They found their masquerade masks relatively quickly, so they used the opportunity to check out the rest of the store, and made some purchases for future iCarly shows. Carly added balloons to her shopping crate when Sam dragged her over to the other side of the aisle.<p>

"Check it out, inflatable guitars!" Sam said, shaking one of them in Carly's face. "We could use them on iCarly."

The three of them spent a good hour inside the store, coming up with brand new ideas for the show. Sam wanted to see if they could fly kites inside with a giant fan as their wind source. Carly found a bazillion glowsticks, and got the idea to do Glow-In-the-Dark iCarly for next Halloween. Freddie saw a shelf full of magic tricks and wanted to do a magic segment for the release of the next Jerry Sutter movie. They came up with a pirate-themed episode of iCarly when they decided to buy an extra-long jump rope, a fake treasure map, a box of fake gold coins, seven water guns, and a bubble sword.

Sam found bouncy balls in the shape of rocks, balloons made specifially to become water balloons, and a new slingshot (her old one broke). She almost bought a cork rifle (the only thing in the store not worth 99 cents) until Carly dragged her away from it.

"It's bad enough you purposely broke Gibby's lobster claw, you don't need another weapon to cause destruction," Carly said fiercely.

* * *

><p>They came inside Carly's apartment and, by some miracle, Spencer's use of the chainsaw didn't cause him to lose any fingers or limbs. But the apartment was covered in torn-up wads of that spongy-looking material. Spencer was lying on the couch, exhausted. The chainsaw was abadoned on the floor in front of the TV.<p>

"Oh, my God, you're alive!" Carly exclaimed.

"I told you everything was gonna be fine!" Spencer said, pointing at Carly.

Carly nodded. "Well, would you like a super special treat to celebrate that you managed not to maim yourself with a chainsaw?"

Spencer sat up. "What is it, what is it?"

Carly pulled out a Styrofoam cup. "It's a Rasperry-Mango-Guava Surprise Frozen Yogurt from Pink Bunny!"

Spencer did his Baby Spencer, "Yay!"

Carly gave him his yogurt, and he digged in happily. "So, where you guys been?"

"The 99-cent store," Carly said. "We got masks for prom, and props for iCarly." She put the bags she was holding down on the couch. "The props bin is still in the hallway closet, right?"

"Yup," Spencer said, his face still in his yogurt.

Carly turned to Sam and Freddie. "Give me a hand?"

"Nah, I'll do it," Sam said, handing her bags to Freddie. "Top shelf, right?" she asked Carly.

"Yeah, we really need to move that to the floor," Carly said, taking out the props from the bags she left on the couch.

Sam disappeared down the hall and came back holding a translucent green bin over her head like the Hulk. She set the bin down and took off the lid. The first thing she saw were the grass skirt and coconut bikini top Carly wore when Shane came on the show. There were also the plastic club Carly used when she was a cavegirl and the cheerleading costumes and pom-poms they used for their _Melanie Higgles: Space Cheerleader_ bit. They all kneeled down on the floor and emptied their bags into the bin.

"So when are we gonna use all this stuff?" Sam asked.

"We'll have to plan this out when all this prom madness is over," Freddie said, crumpling up the bags and heading to the kitchen to throw them out.

"Did you buy your ticket yet?" Sam asked, putting the lid on the bin.

"No. I can't get near one of those tables without every girl in the senior class crowding around me, asking me to prom."

"Hmmm," Sam stood up from the floor and paced around. "What you need is a distraction that'll make all those girls move to the other side of the school for a good few seconds."

She mindlessly kicked the props bin, thinking, then turned to Carly. "Who is the most elegible bachelor in Hollywood right now?"

Carly thought for a while. "Any guy from those vampire movies or TV shows."

"Or that actor who plays the foreign guy from that show," Spencer interjected suddenly, having finished his yogurt.

Carly looked at him. "'The foreign guy from that show'?"

"Yeah, that show we were watching earlier. With the redhead and the panties?"

"Grrrr, that word," Sam said, covering her ears.

"Why do you want to know?" Carly asked.

Sam uncovered her ears. "Because those girls are shallow as heck. If they hear that some hot actor is chilling out in the playground, they'll run across the school to see if it's really true."

Carly laughed. "Can I get in on this?"

"Yeah sure." Sam's phone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and clickety-clicked around. "My mom texted. She wants me home in a half hour."

"I'll walk you," Freddie said.

"Humm-kay." She and Freddie wandered out the door. "Night-y nites."

"_Tocino_," Freddie said, waving good-bye.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Sam stood with her head practically inside her locker. Freddie was hiding in the boys' bathroom a little down the hall, and Carly was hanging out further along in the hallway. Sam was talking to them on three-way on her phone.<p>

"Anyone there?" Carly asked.

Sam looked at the prom ticket table. It was surrounded by girls, most of them Sam recognized from the mob.

"Tons of girls. Do it, Carls."

Carly hung up. All Sam and Freddie could do now was wait. It didn't take long. Stephanie Jeffers ran into the hallway, screaming, "Oh, my God! Guys, guys! Ian Somerhalder is chilling out in the back playground!"

The girls at the table started screaming and following Stephanie to the other side of the building.

Sam said into her phone, "Freddie, go now!"

Freddie ran out of the bathroom and went straight to the table. Sam hung up and shut her locker so she could keep watch if anyone came back early. Luckily, Freddie bought his ticket before anyone could come back.

"Thanks," Freddie said to Sam.

"No big," she replied. They walk to the stairs leading to the second floor. Freddie sat down.

"Are you more excited now?" he asked.

Sam sat down next to him. "Yeah. I've seen all these cliché movies and TV shows about prom, but I don't think our prom is gonna be that lame. At least, I hope it won't be as lame."

"Well, if it is, we can make fun of it together," Freddie said, nudging her gently. She smiled a little.

Sam's phone went off. She checked it. Carly texted: "they're coming back!"

She looked at Freddie. "Let's bail."

"I'm with you." She and Freddie got up from the stairs and ran off to their secret study hall spot.

**A/n: Truth be told, I wrote this chapter from scratch in a few hours, as opposed to the other chapters I've done that have been mapped out at least a little bit.**

**R&R plz!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: This, for me, was the big chapter. Most of this chapter was already written, and when I started this story this was the first section I added more to.**

**I don't own iCarly or a car of my own. But that's life.**

The iCarly studio was barely lit. Freddie was kneeling on the floor to capture Carly and Sam sitting on beanbag chairs on the floor, and George the Bra floating above them, finishing his ghost story.

"And, then, the sea creature rose out of the lake, slithered over to the red car, and swallowed the car and the people inside it WITHOUT EVEN CHEWING!"

Carly and Sam screamed at the top of their lungs, wrapped their arms around their knees and began to rock back and forth.

"That was so scary!" Sam yelled.

"Too scary!" Carly yelled back.

"We're gonna have nightmares forever!" they yelled together.

After a few seconds of looking at the camera, terrified, they got up from their beanbag chairs. The lights came on, and George vanished from sight.

"Let's give it up for George," Carly said.

"The Bra Who Tells Ghost Stories," Sam finished, pressing the applause button on her blue remote.

"Now, we're gonna bring back an old segment we did when we first started the show," Carly said.

"It's called," Sam began.

"The Blab Cam!" Carly and Sam finished together.

"You might remember the last time we did the Blab Cam, where Freddie got a date from a girl at our school," said Carly.

"Her name was Valerie, and she was EVIL." Sam looked at the camera with giant eyes.

"Sam's right. Valerie looked like she was interested in Freddie for real-"

"- but, she really just wanted to create a webshow more popular than iCarly-"

"- which she failed to do."

"Oh, well." Sam shrugged, and she and Carly nodded knowingly at the camera.

"Now, let's hope we don't get any other evil iCarly-hating chicks on tonight's Blab Cam." Carly turned to Freddie. "Freddie, who's up first?"

Freddie backed up to his tech cart, checked his laptop. "Uh, first we have a guy named Jamie, from Miami."

The TV swung out, the tripod camera was focused on the girls, and on the TV came a guy sitting in his bedroom."

"Hi, Jamie."

"'Sup, Jamie?"

"Hey, guys. Love your webshow. I have a question for Sam."

"Does it involve my math homework tonight?" Sam asked.

"Uh, no."

"Ask away, Jamie!"

"I remember when you had to miss the show one day, and Spencer filled in for you. What happened?"

"Oh, that. I got arrested for shoving some hot beans down a foreign diplomat's pants."

Jamie laughed. "For real?"

"Well, he was in my way! And he obviously didn't speak English! How else was I supposed to get his attention? Doesn't he know that you don't cut in the line at the Jiffy Mart?"

"Maybe he didn't," Jamie said, shrugging.

Carly was a laughing a little, too. "Thanks, Jamie. Okay, Freddie, who's next?"

Freddie scrolled up and down. "Oh, here's a girl named Katrina from Vancouver."

Jamie vanished from the screen, and was replaced by an African-American girl in her room.

"Hey, Katrina."

"Hi, Carly. Hi, Sam. I have a question for Carly and Freddie."

"Oh." Carly turned to Freddie again. "Get over here, Freddie!" She waved him over.

Freddie left his tech cart, and stood next to Carly. "Hey, Katrina. What's your question?"

"Okay. I heard a rumor that you two dated. What happened? Did you guys break up or something?"

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

I guess I should've seen that coming when she said she had a question for me AND Freddie.

I really didn't want to answer that question. And I didn't want Freddie to answer it, either. If we answer it, it'll lead to more questions, and once the entire iCarly viewing audience finds out he saved me from that taco truck, the hero thing will start up again. And I've been waiting for years for it to die down.

Is wrong for me to have a crush on my best friend's boyfriend? Oh yeah. But I can't talk to Sam about it. She might actually kill me.

* * *

><p>FREDDIE'S POV<p>

Out of all the questions Carly and I had to get asked, it had to be this one.

I didn't want to answer that question. That whole scenario is too blurred around the edges for me to think about it without getting confused. And to add to the picture, I'm dating Sam (and actually enjoying it). The slight bright side about this is that Carly hasn't brought up anything about the hero thing dying down since we broke up.

* * *

><p>THIRD PERSON POV<p>

Sam, not being an idiot, saw Carly and Freddie's reactions to Katrina's question, and knew that this was a topic they weren't ready to talk about yet, ancient history or not. Time to improvise.

Sam jumped in front of Carly and Freddie. "Sorry, Katrina, we gotta cut this short." She pressed the middle button on her remote, and the TV swung away. She motioned for Freddie to get behind the camera again. Carly looked utterly bewildered, and relieved at the same time.

"I'm sure most of you are all ticked off that I left you hanging, but we're out of time," said Sam.

"Stay tuned for next week's iCarly!" Carly said.

Sam hit the second button from the bottom.

"RANDOM DANCING!" echoed throughout the studio. Carly and Sam did their usual manic dancing around the studio while Freddie backed up to his tech cart again, and began signing off.

"And, we're clear," he said, putting his camera down.

"Whoo!" Sam and Carly high-fived.

"Thanks for stepping in on that question, Sam," Carly said

"Eh, it's no big. I just didn't want you guys to get all humiliated on the web."

"Despite the fact that tonight's show involved a talking bra?" Carly giggled.

"That's not embarrassing. That's just awesome."

They heard Spencer yell from downstairs, "Chinese food's here!"

"FOOD!" Sam charged out of the studio and thundered down the stairs. Freddie was about to follow her, until Carly stopped him.

"Freddie, can I talk to you for a sec?"

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

I don't know what made me say it. Okay, I do know. I had to find out from Freddie if he thought the hero thing had died down enough.

"What's up?" he asked.

I wringed my hands a little. I paced in a small circle in front of him. "That question Katrina asked. And you know with prom around the corner, it just... I guess... reawakened what I've been thinking about for the past few weeks."

Freddie kinda raised his eyebrows. I think he knows what's coming.

Okay, deep breath. Calm. Just say it. Get it out there.

"I still like you."

* * *

><p>THIRD PERSON POV<p>

Getting Chinese food from downstairs involved Sam getting Spencer untangled from a giant piece of red yarn. Spencer tried to explain to Sam that he slipped on it, and the more he tried to get up the more it wrapped around him. Most of the yarn was trapped underneath the couch legs.

Once he was free, Spencer was lying on the couch, explaining to Sam, panting, that the red yarn was for his new scuplture. Completely not interested in Spencer's antics, Sam grabbed her carton of chicken and pork fried rice and went back upstairs to see what was taking Carly and Freddie so long.

Sam reached the third floor, but slowed down when she heard serious voices. She assumed Carly and Freddie were talking about Katrina's question, so she let them have their talk. This was between the two of them.

Then Freddie said, "Wait. You still like me?"

Sam's jaw dropped. She hoped she'd heard wrong.

"Yeah. The hero thing has died down, your casts have been off for a while, and those feelings are still there. I just needed to tell you that," Carly said earnestly.

Freddie was frozen. He didn't know how to respond to this. After they'd broken up, he had still secretly pined for her the rest of sophomore year. Now, he wasn't sure how he felt about her.

Sam was still in the hallway, waiting for Freddie to say no. She knew he had to. He wasn't cruel enough to throw away one girl and date another just like that.

The silence was too long. Sam looked through the doorway. Freddie was just staring at Carly with wide eyes. Carly's earnest expression changed, her eyes glazed over, and she leaned in closer to Freddie. Freddie wasn't leaning away.

In her surprise, Sam dropped her carton of Chinese food. Carly and Freddie jumped and looked around.

Sam couldn't think of anything to say, so she just turned around and left.

"Sam, no, don't-" Freddie began. But she was already out the door. He went after her. He caught her on the stairs.

"Sam, nothing happened, I swear," he said, looking her right in the eye so she knew he wasn't lying.

"I know nothing happened, I saw everything," Sam said. She was trying to get past him on the stairs, but he was blocking her way.

"Sam, I didn't know Carly was gonna tell me all that. I was surprised, that's all."

"You didn't say no."

"What are you talking about?"

Sam glowered at him. "Carly said she liked you, and she was about to kiss you, but you didn't do anything to stop her. What do you think would've happened if I wasn't there?"

"I would never do that to you! You know that!"

"So, what are you gonna tell her then?" She crossed her arms.

Freddie hestitated. "I don't know. I... I need to think about it."

"I see," Sam said coldly. She pushed past Freddie's arm, ran down the stairs, and out the door.

* * *

><p>SAM'S POV<p>

This is just great. Three days before prom and everything comes crashing down. My so-called best friend puts the moves on my boyfriend, and he has to think about it before he actually makes a decision.

He still likes Carly. I know it. If he didn't still like her, he wouldn't have to think about it.

* * *

><p>Sam opened the mini-fridge in her locker. She'd originally put chicken legs in there for today, but she was still pissed after last night so she microwaved her ribs instead. But because they were ribs, they took longer to microwave. She paced in front of her locker, waiting for her ribs to heat up, so she could leave before Carly got to her locker. She didn't want to talk to her.<p>

But luck wasn't on her side today. Carly showed up before the ribs were done.

Carly looked tentatively at Sam. "Uh, hi."

"Uh, hi," Sam mimicked.

"Freddie says you won't answer his calls." Carly opened her locker.

"Yeah. There's a reason for that."

"You can't blame Freddie for having to think about this, you know."

"Oh, don't give me that. You're all giddy because you think you have a chance." She checked her phone. Two minutes left and her ribs would be done.

"Sam, I don't think it's fair that you're taking your anger towards Freddie out on me!" Carly shut her locker and started to walk away.

"I'm not just mad at Freddie, you know!"

Carly turned around. "What are you talking about?"

Sam stepped forward so she was face-to-face with Carly. "You went behind my back and told Freddie you still like him. Are you kidding me? Why would you do that instead of coming to me first?"

"Because I knew if I came to you first, you wouldn't have let me talk to him about it!" Carly exclaimed.

Sam's eyes widened. Seeing Sam's reaction, Carly knew she had crossed a line. Sam's expression slowly changed from shocked to cold anger. When she spoke, her teeth seemed to be clenched together.

"I can't believe you'd ever think I would do that to you," she said in a low voice. "I thought we were best friends."

Sam started to walk away until her phone went off. Completely avoiding Carly's eye, she went back to her locker and took her ribs out of the microwave before leaving again.

**A/n: Tada! That was the big one!**

**To answer the forthcoming question of, "Why did you make Carly do that?"**

**Overall, I like Carly. I think she's funny and has a great personality. But at times, I feel as if she's a Little Miss Perfect (I mean, 752 guys showed up to take her to the Girls' Choice dance). Sam has screwed up plently in their friendship, so I felt it was Carly's turn to monumentally screw up.**

**R&R plz. I'd appreciate it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: This chapter was a doozy. I knew I wanted to do one Freddie-centric chapter, but it took me a while to figure out how to get it done right.**

**iCarly is not mine. My sister does have a crush on Nathan Kress, though (after seeing his biceps, who can blame her?)**

Faithful boyfriend or hopeless romantic? Sitting in the back room of the library alone in third period study hall, Freddie couldn't really tell the difference. He kept glancing at the door, hoping that Sam would walk in so they could work all this out. On the other hand, he was kind of glad he was alone so he could think this through. He tried to think during history and physics class, but those were classes where he needed to pay attention.

This was one of those situations that required a pro's and con's list. He was wired that way, he couldn't help it. He pulled out a sheet of paper from one of his notebooks and found a pen. He started with Sam.

_Sam's Cons:_

_- violent_

_- hard to handle_

_- lacks some personal hygeine_

He found this a little weird. Despite all of Sam's cons, he'd stuck around. iCarly helped a little. They did bits on their own, like _Wake Up Spencer_ and _What's Baby Eating_. Even though Sam hit him and insulted him, even though they fought a lot, they'd gone from hating each other to being friends to dating each other. It was weird how life worked.

_Sam's Pros:_

_- blonde_

_- blue eyes_

_- super strong_

_- confident in herself_

_- always honest with me_

_- trusts me (rarely gets jealous)_

_- doesn't hit me to cause me pain anymore_

_- still teases me like she used to even if we're dating_

While he wrote down Sam's pros, he was reminiscing back to all their "dates", for lack of a better word. They didn't go out on sit-down dinner dates, because Sam never quite liked that. If they ever went out at night, they usually had fast food. They'd gone to the movies together, spent a couple days of spring break at the water park, but most of their dates were spent at the arcade, playing skee-ball and air hockey.

Another thing he liked about Sam was that she wasn't too girly. She spent her girl time with Carly (like picking out prom dresses). She hated sitting down for long periods of time, so their dates usually involved doing active things. Sam picked where they went for their first date, which turned out to be rock climbing. He had way more fun than he expected to.

Because of their deal to keep their relationship private, those dates rarely had any PDA. They didn't hold hands, hug, or kiss even though they wanted to. A lot. The only place they could show at least some PDA was Carly's place, but she was their best friend, and they didn't want to make her uncomfortable, so they usually kept it to a minimum.

Freddie found the idea of a secret relationship somewhat exciting. His mom always disinfected his clothes with her anti-bacterial body spray for boys, asking him if he had any direct contact with any girls when she sprayed. At first, he didn't like lying to his mom (mainly because he was afraid she'd find out and have a heart attack), but about a week or so into it, it felt kind of exciting.

He did find it weird that his mom hated Carly, but didn't seem to mind Sam as much. His mom blamed Carly back when he moved out of the apartment for getting him interested in girls, and for getting hit by the taco truck. At first, she hoped one day for Carly to like him back to the point where she actually yelled at her, "Why won't you love my son?" He knew his mom thought of Sam as a freak, but she was never hostile towards her. She was only hostile towards Carly.

Freddie turned his paper over and made Carly's pros and cons list.

_Carly's Pros:_

_- she finally likes me back_

He'd been waiting for this day for a long time. He thought he'd finally got it when they started dating after he got hit by the taco truck. Did he regret breaking up with her? At first, yeah. But after a while, it began to sink in that it was for the best. He really did believe that Sam was right. Carly wasn't in love with him, she just loved that he saved her life.

Getting over Carly was a gradual process. He'd slowly stopped getting jealous of any guy Carly was interested in. That night at the lock-in when Sam kissed him was a test for him. It forced him to do pretty much what he was doing now. He had to weigh his options, and decide which was best for him. When Sam and Freddie got together, he felt he was as over Carly as he could get.

And here he was doing the same thing, but with added pressure, because Carly was now in the picture.

He pulled out his phone, and scrolled through the videos on there. They were mostly of Sam and the wacky hijinks they got up to on their nights out together, but there were also videos from iCarly rehearsals and random weird things that happened at school. Freddie clicked on one of the iCarly rehearsal videos.

It was a rehearsal from earlier this year. It was around Valentine's Day, since Valentine's Day didn't fall on a show day this year. Carly and Sam were being sleeping dogs, lying on their backs with their legs and feet in the air, doggie-paddling in the air.

"Honk shoooooo. Honk shoooooo," they were both chanting.

He tested himself, trying to keep his focus on Carly, but Sam was in his peripheral vision, and his eyes kept darting back to her. Carly was staring up at her hands in the air. Sam just had this giant smile on her face. He remembered she was trying not to laugh.

He went back to his videos, and picked something different. He found an older video from last summer.

The three of them were at the park. Sam was hanging upside down on the monkey bars. Her hair was hanging down like a sheet. She was giggling hysterically. Carly called out, "Sam, do you wanna race or not?"

Sam swung down so her feet hit the ground and walked to the other side of the monkey bars. "Ready?"

"One, two, three!"

Sam jumped up, grabbed the monkey bars, and started swinging. Her feet were inches off the ground. She reached the middle before Carly did, and almost bumped into her when she went further.

They both dropped to the ground, laughing. Carly was rubbing her palms. "It's been a long time since I've been on the monkey bars. My feet can almost touch the ground."

He thought something was odd in the video. When he watched it again, he found out what it was: the camera was focused on Sam, and only went to Carly when the two came together on the monkey bars. This was shot last year, before he and Sam were dating, but it was after the lock-in when she kissed him.

He remembered that summer very clearly. After she kissed him at the lock-in, he'd promised Sam that she would have an answer from him at the end of summer. Sam had accepted that without question, and life went on like it did before. They shot their iCarly bits together, they came up with ideas together. Something he noticed towards the end of July was that his ideas got funnier and funnier the more time he spent with Sam. And it wasn't just his jokes that got funnier, but Carly told him he changed. She said he seemed more confident, he was standing up to his mom more, and he just seemed happier. When she told him all that, he knew exactly what made all that happen. He ended up giving Sam his answer before August.

Being Sam Puckett, she was nervous about getting together with Freddie. Freddie made it easier on her. He let her pick the first date, so he could get a feel where she was most comfortable. All throughout August she had trouble even saying they were together. It wasn't until September that she actually said it. Freddie didn't mind. Dating Sam was something he had to get used to as well. Soon, they both realized that they made each other happy.

Their relationship wasn't too different from their friendship. They teased each other like they used to, Sam would hit him every now and again, but it didn't hurt as much anymore. The added bonuses were the kissing, and the fact that they enjoyed each other's company. One thing that surprised him was that Sam trusted him more than he expected her to. Because they were keeping their relationship private, the rest of the female population at Ridgeway thought he was still single. Because of that, girls were asking him out a few times a month. Sam was never concerned whether or not he would say no. Sure, she glared at the girls who asked him out, but she always knew Freddie would turn them down.

Except last night. Carly wanted to kiss him, and although he wanted it to happen, he also didn't. He didn't want to hurt Sam.

What she said last night came back to him. "What do you think would've happened if I wasn't there?"

Immediately, he felt disgusted with himself. She was right. If she hadn't been there, he would've been even more screwed than he was now.

The bell rang. He finished his list.

_Carly's Cons:_

_- she's not Sam_

**R&R!**

**Oh, and my thoughts and best wishes are with Jennette McCurdy and her family.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n: Firstly, thanks to NostalgicHamster16 and Mike2101 for constructive reviews that helped improve this chapter, even if you didn't know it. :)**

****Secondly, thanks to ****iMaximumPuckett23 for noticing the **_**Friends**_** reference in the last chapter. I was hoping someone would. :)**  
><strong>

**I don't own iCarly, and my favorite character on **_**Glee**_** is Artie.**

Sam had about twenty missed calls from Freddie. She became so sick of it that she turned her phone off during fifth period. She raced out of school as soon as the bell rang, and stomped home angrily. It took her forty-five minutes, and she felt the force she put to each concrete square she stomped on was enough to crack the sidewalk.

She let herself in the front door. She threw her backpack on the floor by the stairs and headed for the fridge. She found her double-decker ham sandwich and headed for the couch. She needed to unwind. Homework was not an option. She brushed the dust off her Z-Cube, and turned it on. There was a stack of Z-Cube games on the floor next to the TV. She looked through the stack for her copy of _Disgruntled Parrots_. She looked through the stack twice and the DVDs next to the big couch, but she couldn't find it. Munching on her sandwich, she tried to remember where the last place she played that game was. Then, she remembered: the iCarly studio. She'd come early yesterday to teach Carly to play, and left it there. After what happened between Carly and Freddie, she completely forgot to take it home.

She flopped on the couch. She could stay home and not play _Disgruntled Parrots_, or she could go get her game on the off chance that Carly wasn't home. She let out a big loud groan, got up from the couch, got her keys off the side table by the door, and went out the door, still eating her sandwich.

When she reached the Bushwell Plaza, she got a touch more paranoid. Not only was she in danger of bumping into Carly, but Freddie, too. She looked around the hallways when she walked from the elevator to Carly's apartment. Bracing herself, Sam knocked on the door. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard Spencer yell, "It's open!"

Sam let herself in. Spencer was sculpting what looked like a giant baseball. He peered around it to see Sam staring up at the baseball with her eyebrows raised. After a while, Sam broke the silence, "Where's Carly?"

He gestured upstairs. "Homework. Want me to call her down?"

Sam said, "Nah, I just left one of my Z-Cube games in the studio."

"Oh, go ahead. I gotta finish this baseball up so I can roll it down the hill at the park." He ducked behind the ball.

Sam froze with her hand on the elevator door. "Why are you -?"

"So I can roll it into the lake and see if it floats."

"Of course," Sam said. She hit the up button and rode the elevator to the studio.

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

It's hard for me to do homework with prom around the corner, Sam mad at me, and Freddie making this big decision. I can't focus on anything. I keep looking at my phone, hoping Sam will call so we can talk. Or hoping Freddie will call so we can try and fix this together.

The doorbell rang downstairs. I got off my bed and went to my door to hear what was going on down there. I couldn't hear much. Spencer wasn't talking loudly enough. When he yelled up the stairs, it almost made me jump out of my skin.

"Carly, Freddie's here! Can you take a homework break?"

Oh, my God. Freddie's here. Does he have an answer? Did Sam call him and make up with him?

"I'll be down in a few," I yelled back.

I put my forehead to my door and forced myself to calm down. _Deep breath in, deep breath out. Okay. Calm. Now, careful down the stairs. Don't trip, fall down the whole flight, and crack your head open. That is not okay._

Spencer left his giant baseball in the living room next to his bottlebot. Freddie was staring up at it, like he was trying to figure what was going through Spencer's mind when he decided to make this. He saw me come down the stairs.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I said back. I tried to think of something else to say that wouldn't sound dumb. "Did you talk to Sam yet?"

He shook his head. "No. She turned her phone off, and she's not answering at home. Did you talk to her?"

"This morning, but it didn't go well. She's mad at me, too." I sat down on the couch.

* * *

><p>THIRD PERSON POV<p>

Sam waited for the elevator for about five minutes. She eventually just gave up on it and took the stairs quietly down. She stopped right before she got down to the living room when she heard voices.

"Why is Sam mad at you again?" Sam heard Carly ask.

"She's mad that I had to think about choosing between you two."

The second voice sent goosebumps up and down her arms. Freddie. Sam sat down on the stairs so she stayed hidden from them. She peered around the wall and saw Freddie and Carly sitting on the couch together. She saw Freddie move a fraction to his right, closest to the stairs, and she withdrew her head.

"Really?" Carly asked.

"Well, she's Sam."

"Yeah, but if she was in your position, she'd need time to think about it, too."

Sam nodded to herself. Carly was right. She was starting to understand what position Freddie was in.

"I know. I would've said that to her, but she was pretty upset so I figured maybe not." She heard Freddie hesitate a little. "I think she expects me to be the dream guy. The guy whose world revolves around her. The perfect boyfriend. She expected me to choose her right away without having to think about it."

Sam stared down at her sneakers when she heard this. Despite her determination to not become one of those sappy girlfriends, she'd somehow molded herself that way anyway. Not completely, but the fact that she expected Freddie to pick her over Carly right away was unreasonable.

"But wait," Freddie said, "why is Sam mad at _you_?"

This time Carly hesitated. "Because I went behind her back and told you I still liked you before she even knew."

"What?" Sam heard feet hit carpet; Freddie stood up from the couch. "You guys are best friends! How could you not have told her?"

Sam smiled a little to herself. It felt good to know that Freddie was taking her side on this.

"You sound just like her," Carly noted irritably.

"Well, she has a point. Imagine if you were in her shoes, and she told me she liked me before she told you."

"But I would've let her talk to you about it!"

"And Sam wouldn't have? She knows how it was between us two years ago. She knows it's complicated, and she knows these kinds of things need to be worked out like this. Seriously, what were you thinking, Carly?"

"I was desperate! Prom is this Saturday! And I couldn't hold this in any longer! I had to tell someone! I figured if I just told you how I felt that the weight would be off my chest!"

"But this isn't how you handle things! I get that prom is important to you, but did you really have to be this selfish?"

"You don't have to say it that way, I know I messed up!"

"You know you messed up, but I don't think you understand how badly you messed up! Remember at the lock-in last year? You said it was the first time Sam liked someone who wasn't disgusting, heavily tattooed, or on parole. And now, you just decide to take all of this away from her?"

There was silence. Sam had never heard Freddie talk to Carly like that. They've had disagreements and small arguments in the past, but nothing this big before.

Freddie's words hit Carly hard. At first, it hurt when he called her selfish, until she realized he was right. Guilt began to fill her stomach like a virus. She felt horrible. Sam was her best friend, and Carly couldn't believe she'd done this to her.

Sam heard a rustle of cushions on wood, and knew that Freddie sat back down next to Carly.

"Yeah, you're right," Carly said finally. She sighed a little. "So, did you think about it?"

"Yep."

"And? What do you say?"

"We're still gonna talk about this when we have to fix things with Sam?"

"I just really need to know. Once I know, we'll put all this on hold, make up with Sam, and talk about it later."

Sam peered around the wall again. Freddie had his face in his hands.

"Well?" Carly asked.

Freddie wasn't expecting to have to tell Carly so soon, but he figured she was going to know anyway, so it might as well be now. He looked up and around at her. "Carly... I love you to death. You know that." Sam felt a horrible churning sensation in her intestines. "Remember when I used to say that I was in love with you? From, what, sixth grade to sophomore year? I... I thought I knew what I was talking about. But, I never truly understood what love felt like... until Sam."

Sam's heart lifted. However, in her joy, she saw Carly's face. She looked upset, almost crushed.

"You're my best friend in the world. I thought that if I could get you to be my girlfriend, I'd be the happiest guy in the world. And for a while, I was, back when we were dating sophomore year. But, you've seen me and Sam together. We complement each other. You even said before that you'd never seen either of us so happy."

Carly nodded. She said, "So... do you love her?"

Sam leaned forward.

Freddie nodded. "Yeah. I do. I can't turn my back on her. And I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I want to be honest with you. I've always done that with you."

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

I was touched by what he said. For the past couple of years, I tested myself to see if I still liked Freddie, and when I came to the conclusion that those feelings hadn't gone away, I wanted more than anything to tell him. But he respected our friendship enough to do this. He'd come to terms with how he felt about me now, and he didn't want anything to change between us. In a way, it made me appreciate our friendship more.

* * *

><p>THIRD PERSON POV<p>

Elated, Sam forgot that she was hiding, and her foot slipped from one stair and fell loudly on the one below it. Carly and Freddie perked up and looked around. Sam stood up and stepped down so they could see her, which made them stand up, too.

"Sam," Carly said. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, left my Z-Cube game upstairs." Sam held up her copy of _Disgruntled Parrots_.

"Did you hear everything?" Freddie asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sam came down the stairs.

Carly walked around the couch and stopped in front of Sam. Sam could tell she was trying to find the right words to say sorry. Carly tried to say something, but nothing came out. Then, Carly just hugged her.

"Sam, I'm sorry. I should've told you about how I felt about Freddie. I'm sorry I did all this behind your back." She sounded like she was going to cry.

Sam pulled back and held Carly at arms' length. Her eyes were shiny, and she was biting the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from breaking down.

"I forgive you, Carls." She really did. She was glad Carly understood how badly she messed up and that she was owning up to it. But, she could tell that Carly was really upset. "You feel like talking about it?"

Carly shook her head and took a deep breath. "Not now. I feel like being alone for a while. I'll call you when I feel like talking, okay?"

Sam nodded and hugged Carly again before she took off up to her room. Sam turned to look at Freddie.

"Walk with me," he said, gesturing to the door.

Sam followed him out of Carly's apartment, out the front doors of the Bushwell Plaza, and down the street. It was a nicer day, and for once it wasn't raining.

"You know, this was an easier decision than you think," Freddie said.

Sam laughed a little. "Really?"

"Well, it was easier than I thought it was gonna be. I thought that by the time I'd made a choice, prom would've already passed."

She nodded. "And, I'm sorry I yelled at you for having to think about this. I shouldn't have expected you to automatically choose me without some thought."

He smiled at her. "Thanks."

They walked out of downtown Seattle, passing by the Jiffy Mart on Silverstone Street, and turning left. He was walking her home. Sam glanced sideways at him, and reached for his hand. He looked at her and smiled. They hadn't usually held hands in public.

"Do you think Carly's gonna be okay?" Freddie asked her.

Sam craned her neck to look up at the sky. "Hmmm... well, I hope so. I think it'll take a while. Especially now, because it's prom week. I bet she had this entire scenario planned out where you two would go to prom, have a great time, and live sappily ever after."

"You really think that?"

"Well, she's Carly. Remember Adam last year? Before they even got the chance to date, she called him her future husband."

He nodded. "Do you think she meant it?"

"Well, yes and no. I think all of that was just wishful thinking."

They reached Sam's house. Sam noticed her mom's car was in the driveway.

"She's back," Sam noted, pointing at the car.

"She wasn't home when you got out of school?" Freddie asked.

"Nah, Thursdays are her 'shopping day'." Sam made air quotes. "She tries to get food, but always ends up wandering off and buying stuff that isn't edible in the slightest. Last week she came home with a ham, three packs of ribs, two new bikinis, a new toy for the cat, five lightbulbs, and a calendar." She sighed. "But at least she tries."

They walked up to the front door. Freddie stopped right on the front stoop and looked at her full on. "Sam, I want you to know for sure that I have never felt this way about anyone else. That's what helped me know that I made the right choice."

Sam smiled, she couldn't help herself. She always liked how sincere he was with her. "Really?"

"Of course really. Why?"

"Well, I mean, I always assumed we were going to prom together, but it was never really made official or anything."

Freddie nodded. He looked Sam right in the eye, and said, "Well then, Sam Puckett, will you go to prom with me?"

She laughed, but appreciated it nonetheless. "Sure."

He hugged her tightly for a while. He pulled back from her and kissed her cheek when his cell phone went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked it.

"I gotta go," he said, looking back up at her. "I'll pick you up at 8." He grinned, and left to go home. Sam watched him leave before letting herself in.

**R&R!**

**Dear Another Dead Hero, keep on being patient. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/n: A big fat "muchas gracias" to Another Dead Hero for supplying me with an OC that unknowingly solved my big prom dilemma.**

**I don't own iCarly or the character Zakk Blythe. But I do have a Penny-T that says "Peanut Butter Love".**

Sam was busy heating up the chicken legs she'd passed up yesterday, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Carly standing behind her, looking embarrassed.

"Hey, kid," Sam said, turning her full attention on Carly. "You doing okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I just wanted to say sorry again for what I did. It was really selfish, and really not like me at all."

"It's okay," Sam said, hugging her. Carly scoffed. "Really, it is." Sam looked at her. "You dun goofed, but everything's fine now."

"Did you and Freddie work things out?" Carly asked, opening her locker.

"Yeah. We're all good." Sam leaned against her locker.

"Good," Carly said, taking out a textbook. "Last night, after you left, one of the things I realized was that I'd feel awful if I screwed things up between you two."

"Will you stop with all that?" Sam said, looking at Carly. "It's over. Everything's all tickety-boo now, really."

Carly smiled a little. "All right."

Sam's phone beeped. She opened her locker and pulled out a chicken leg from her microwave. Tearing off a chunk, she asked Carly, "So, are you gonna go stag at prom?"

Carly stared at her textbook, thinking. "I don't know. Spencer says I should embrace my inner awesome and fly solo, but… it's prom. Guys can go stag at prom and not care all that much. I care a little! More than a little!"

"Hmmm," Sam said, shutting her locker. "And you're still opposed to using iCarly to ask a guy to prom?"

"After Austin and the Girls' Choice dance, yep."

Sam's phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and checked the caller ID.

"Freddie?" Carly asked.

"No, it's my…" Sam's voice trailed off, and she suddenly smiled. "I think I have a solution to your problem. Hang on." She answered her phone.

* * *

><p>SAM'S POV<p>

"Hey, man," I said, answering my phone.

"Hey, you at school?"

"Yeah, but I don't have homeroom for another ten minutes or so. Can you hang on a sec?"

"Sure."

It was a brilliant idea. It was. I put the speaker to my chest and turned to Carly.

"Feel like keeping up the Shay tradition of prom dates being blind dates?" I asked her.

"It's not a tradition!" Carly said indignantly.

"Well, you can make it one! Can I please set you up for prom? I swear it's not an uggo with buck teeth or whatever."

"An uggo? What's an ug- no, wait, wait, who are you gonna set me up with?"

"My cousin, Zakk."

"Your cousin? As in, a member of the Puckett family?" Carly looked nervous.

"Well, technically, even though he's a member of the Puckett clan, his last name is Blythe, and I swear to my chicken," I held up my chicken, "that he's never been arrested. He's one of the rare few."

"I don't know." Carly still looked hesitant.

"He's awesome. His dad married my Aunt Rita and they moved to Seattle back in January. And anyway, you owe me."

"I owe you?" Carly said, confused. "For what?"

"For putting the moves on Freddie."

She sighed and nodded. "Okay. How old is he?"

"18. He graduated high school last year."

"He's older?" Carly still wasn't looking thrilled about it.

"Trust me, I think you'll like him a lot. Wanna see a picture?"

Carly nodded. Thank chiz for the Pearphone. I was still on the phone with Zakk and I could access my pics at the same time. I scrolled around, and found a good one to show to her.

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow. Okay, now I'm getting more on board."

I laughed. "Let me check with him."

I put the phone back to my ear. "Hey, you still there?"

"Yup. What happened?"

"Nothing, you just gave me the best brainwave when you called and I need a favor from you."

"I'm not shoplifting beef jerky for you, Sam."

"No, not that. I don't need you to shoplift anything. Can you take my friend Carly to prom?"

"Ummm… what? You want me to take your friend on a blind prom date?"

"You know her. I do iCarly with her every week."

"Oh, her? Umm, I don't know, Sam. When is this prom?"

"Does that mean yes?"

"No, it means 'when is this prom?'"

"Tomorrow night. Please? Please? I'll even buy your ticket and you don't have to pay me back."

"Sam, I'm not a blind date guy."

I tapped my toes on the floor. "You wanna face chat with her?"

I heard him let out a puff of air. "Sure, why not?"

I turned to Carly. "Here, face chat with him. It won't be a blind date if you actually talk to him beforehand." I accessed face chat, and passed her the phone.

Carly seemed more relaxed now that she knew it wasn't gonna be a blind date. She took the phone. I stood next to her. Zakk's face came on my phone screen.

"Carly, meet Zakk," I said, gesturing back and forth from the phone.

"Hi," Carly said.

"Hey. So, are you up for this?"

She nodded. "I'd like to meet you in person, though. Can we meet at the Groovy Smoothie in downtown Seattle at 3:30?"

"Sounds good. Sam, are you coming?"

"Sure, whatever. I got you convinced!"

Zakk laughed. "All right. I'll see you guys later."

"Bye."

Carly handed me back my phone.

"See? Problem solved." I put my phone back in my pocket. "You have a date to prom that you obviously think is cute."

"I do not!" Carly said, turning pink.

"Yeah, yeah. I have to buy his ticket." I threw away my empty chicken bone.

"And put his name for our table," Carly said.

"Gotcha." I went up to the table. Good thing I resisted temptation from buying teriyaki-flavored beef jerky this morning on my way to school, or I'd have to borrow money from someone.

* * *

><p>After last period, Sam texted Carly to meet her outside the front door so they could go to the Groovy Smoothie together and meet up with Zakk. She was munching on her back-up jerky while she waited for Carly.<p>

"Spicy beef jerky?"

Sam looked to her left. Freddie was grinning at her with his hands in his pockets.

"How'd you know?" Sam asked.

"I can always tell."

Sam smiled a little. "I'm waiting for Carly. I found her a prom date, and we're meeting up with him at the Groovy Smoothie."

"So, you guys are back to being best friends?"

"Yup," she said, taking another bite of jerky. "So, random question: are you gonna color-coordinate with me at prom?"

"Yeah, I was thinking I would. Shane told me about this place where I can get my tie and vest dyed the same color as your dress. That's where he got his stuff done. And I still have the picture of the dress that you sent me."

"Who's Shane taking?"

"Karen Franklin. So, who's this guy you're setting up with Carly for prom?"

"One of my more well-behaved cousins. The one from Georgia who's never been in juvie."

Freddie raised his eyebrows. "Carly's willing to go to prom with one of your cousins?"

"Well, it's not a done deal yet, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. They want to meet face-to-face before they go to prom, so I just need to keep hoping that things are gonna go okay."

Carly appeared next to Freddie. "Hey. We going?" she asked Sam.

"Let's hit it!" She and Carly headed down the front steps. "I'll text you later," she called back to Freddie.

"'Kay, have fun," Freddie said back.

* * *

><p>When they got to the Groovy Smoothie, Sam got a text from Zakk. She turned to Carly. "Zakk's running a little late, but he says he'll be here soon."<p>

"Okay," Carly said, nodding.

Sam looked over at the counter. "Yo, T-Bo!"

T-Bo looked up from the cash register. "Yeah, what?"

"One Banana Boomerang and one Strawberry Splat!" Sam called out.

"Please!" Carly added.

"You got it!" He got to making the smoothies.

Sam and Carly sat at their usual table in front of the door. "I told Spencer about Zakk," Carly said, "and he wants me to bring him upstairs so they can meet. Spencer doesn't feel comfortable sending me out to prom with a guy he doesn't know."

"Wow, Responsible Spencer makes another special appearance," Sam said, drumming her fingers on the table.

"Yeah, when he's not making his giant baseball, he's all worried about the bad things that could happen to me or anyone else at and after prom. Grandad would be proud."

Sam nodded. "Did you buy your prom dress yet?"

"Not yet. I figured I'd get that done after Spencer and Zakk met. I also need shoes and something to do with my hair."

"Yeah, I need shoes, too." She flexed and pointed her toes underneath the table.

"Did you get your dress?" Carly asked.

"Nah. I was gonna do that after you and Zakk left to go meet Spencer."

"Boomerang and Splat!" T-Bo called from behind the counter, holding up two smoothies.

Carly and Sam got up to get their smoothies, and when they sat back down, the door of the Groovy Smoothie opened. Sam looked over, and saw that Zakk walked in. He had his guitar in its case slung over his shoulder like a backpack. Sam waved him over and stood up to give him a hug.

"Hey," she said. "It's been a while since we hung out."

"Yeah, I know," Zakk replied.

Sam turned to Carly. "Carly, officially meet Zakk."

"Hi," she said.

"Hey." He dropped into a chair between Carly and Sam. "Sorry I was late. The meeting ran a little long."

"Meeting?" Carly asked.

"I intern at a recording studio, and they had a staff meeting." He set his guitar down gently.

"What do you do there?"

"Mainly I just help out with small things and get some learning experience."

"Is it for college or something?"

"Kinda. I'm not in school right now. I moved here in late January and the semester already started so it was too late to register. I did apply for the fall semester at Seattle University for the Arts, and hopefully this will look good on my application."

"So, you're a musician?"

"Yeah. I play guitar and I sing. I've been trying to make it into music since I was fourteen. I'm trying to find a band I can join, but none of the bands here have the sound I'm looking for."

"What kind of sound are you looking for?"

Sam smiled. As soon as Carly saw Zakk walk in with a guitar, she took charge. Sam knew Carly was a sucker for guitar players.

"More of a heavy metal sound. I'm really into bands like Slayer, Pantera, and Ministry. And I like some more classic stuff, too, like KISS and AC/DC."

Carly had a blank look on her face. "I've never heard of any of those bands."

Zakk laughed. "It's okay."

Sam cut in. "So, should we talk prom?"

"Sure," Carly said. She took a sip of her smoothie. "The theme is masquerade. There's a 99-cent store down the street that sells those masks in all different colors."

"Cool. And it's tomorrow night, right?" Zakk asked.

"Yeah. People usually show up at around 8:30 for the usual prom photo-ops, we get shepherded inside the gym, and prom starts at 9," Sam explained.

"Oh, before I forget," Carly interjected, "my brother wants me to bring you upstairs so he can meet you."

"Your brother?" Zakk asked.

"Yeah, my dad's in the air force, so Spencer's my legal guardian until he comes home."

Zakk nodded. "Okay. So, how are we gonna get to prom?"

"I called the limo company on Tuesday and got us a car," Carly said. "It'll show up at the Bushwell Plaza at 8:10. I just need to call them again and tell them to add one extra person."

"How's the music gonna be?" Zakk asked Sam.

"Er... I think we're getting a DJ." She pressed her lips together.

"Mmmmmm," Zakk said. He didn't seem too pleased.

"Were you expecting a band?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, like a decent local band. That's what happened at my senior prom." He scowled.

"What happened? You didn't like your prom?" Carly asked.

"I didn't go. I was supposed to be performing at prom with my band until they kicked me out the week before prom and replaced me just like that." He snapped his fingers. "I was so ticked, I bailed on my prom."

"Ouch," Sam said.

"Yep."

Carly's phone trilled. She checked it. "Spencer wants me upstairs. Let me just pay for my smoothie really quick."

While Carly was up at the register, Sam turned to her cousin. "Well? Despite that you'll think the music is suckish, what do you say?"

Zakk nodded. "Carly's cool. I'm down with this."

"Thank you, thank you," Sam said, seizing him by his shoulders. "Seriously, you've just made both of us suuuuper happy."

He laughed.

Carly came back from the register. She looked at Zakk. "Ready?"

"Sure," he said, picking up his guitar.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then, Carls," Sam said,

As they headed out the door, Carly said, "Don't be alarmed by the giant baseball in the living room. Other than that, I swear my brother's totally normal."

* * *

><p>SAM'S POV<p>

One thing I worried about last night after Freddie and I made up was whether or not the dress I wanted was still gonna be at Pacy's. Lucky for me, there were three dresses still on the hanger, and two of them were my size. I bought the dress, some shoes, and a matching blue hair pin before heading down to Louisiana Fried Chicken in the food court for some dinner.

After I got home and put my stuff away, I opened my laptop on my bed. I signed on online and saw Freddie was online, too.

**puckettsroar:** u still have the dumbest sn js

**freddieb123:** like ive said a million times i was 13 when i made my account

**puckettsroar:** whatev

**freddieb123:** howd it go w/ carly and ur cousin?

**puckettsroar:** awesome. carly took him up to meet spencer. idk how that went tho she hasnt called me yet

**f****reddieb123:** whatd ur cousin think tho?

**puckettsroar:** he liked her. hes down with taking her to prom. hopefully spencers giant baseball wont scare him off

****f****reddieb123:** **lol. i on the other hand had to surrender my tux to my mom.

**puckettsroar:** y? she find out ur taking me?

**f****reddieb123:** no she just knew i was taking someone. i didnt tell her who. i didnt want her to freak out and forbid me to go.

**puckettsroar:** u coulda snuck out u kno

**f****reddieb123:** yeah but thats such a pain in the keyster

**puckettsroar:** and she took ur tux

**f****reddieb123:** just to spray it w/ 11 different kinds of anti-bacterial sprays. she says she wants me to avoid direct contact w/ girls all night

**puckettsroar:** no direct contact w/ girls all night? has she ever been to a prom?

**f****reddieb123:** ikr.

**puckettsroar: **she gonna have all these rules ur not gonna follow 2?

**f****reddieb123:** yep but i dont care. i'll just tune her out and nod along. if she knew what prom was like nowadays shed find a way to lock me in my room. and i bet she'd install a cat flap to slide food thru

**puckettsroar: ** lol

**f****reddieb123:** ack g2g. shes talking about disinfecting my scalp. i gotta bail. l8r

**puckettsroar: ** l8r

Right after Freddie signed off, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw Carly's name. Smiling, I answered the phone. "So, how'd it go with Zakk?"

"You are the best friend anyone in the world could ever have!"

I laughed. "Yeah, I know. So what happened?"

"I took him to meet Spencer, and it wasn't a disaster! They got along great, and Spencer has deemed him acceptable as a prom date for me!"

"That's awesome!"

"Oh, wait, I didn't tell you the best part yet."

"Ooh, it gets better?" I shifted so I was sitting cross-legged on my bed.

"Spencer left for a few minutes to get his helmet in the iCarly studio and Zakk played me a song."

"One of his own?"

"No, it's by one of those older bands he likes called KISS."

I smirked. "Was the song called 'Beth'?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"He told me he plays that for girls because it makes them melt. Did you melt, Carls?"

"Yeah, a little." She giggled.

"So. Did you buy that dress yet?"

"Yup. It's sitting in my closet. I got shoes and a sparkly pin for my hair. You still coming over tomorrow to get ready?"

"Shoosh yeah! You more excited for prom now?"

"I probably won't be able to sleep tonight!"

Sam laughed again. "Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow."

**A/n: I literally can't wait to post the next chapter. I'm excited. :)**

**R&R!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/n: I'm trying something a little different here. The week iOMG premiered on Nickelodeon, I made a playlist on my iPhone of songs that remind me of iCarly. A lot of them are gonna be featured in the last two chapters, whether in an author's note or in the story itself.**

**I don't own iCarly or any of the songs in the chapter. However, I did mash-up "California Gurls" and "Round and Round" myself.**

Spencer was lying on the couch just looking up at the ceiling. Carly was finishing up her breakfast in her pink bathrobe. Her hair was still wet from her shower. When there was a knock on the door, Spencer looked at it, then somewhat moaned, "Carly. Door."

Carly cast a look at Spencer, but before she went to answer the door, it opened, and Sam bounced in.

"I'm here, let's do this!" She had her backpack slung over one shoulder, and her dress on a hanger in a bag.

Spencer groaned and rolled over on the couch so his face was buried in a cushion.

Sam looked at him. "What up with Spence?"

Spencer groaned again.

"He rolled his baseball into the lake last night," Carly said.

"And, what happened? Did it float?"

"Yeah. Then it burst into flames."

Spencer groaned louder.

"He's been like this since he came home last night. He's trying to figure out how he's able to make stuff catch fire. I tried to cheer him up and tell him it was a super power, but he won't listen."

Spencer got up from the couch. "I'll be in the shower." He walked to the bathroom, grabbing a metal chair leaning against the wall on his way out.

"Was it just me, or did you have a Ricky Flame flashback?" Sam asked, turning to Carly.

"No, I did, too," Carly said, nodding.

"I need to shower, though," Sam said. Before heading up the stairs, she yelled out, "SPENCER, DON'T USE UP ALL THE HOT WATER!"

There was a rustle of curtains being pulled back. "I'LL TRY, BUT DON'T COUNT ON IT!" he yelled back.

* * *

><p>Carly was spreading her various makeup and hair supplies on her desk. Both dresses were lying on Carly's bed. It was around noon. Sam came into Carly's room in her red bathrobe, drying off her hair with a towel.<p>

"Did you get any hot water?" Carly asked.

"Yup. I managed to get all I needed before it ran out."

"What did you bring over in your backpack?"

Sam went to her bag on the bench under the window, opened it, and began taking things out. "I brought shoes, the pin for my hair, my mask, some makeup, my curling iron, fancy bra and underwear, and pork chops." She heaved out a plastic bag.

Carly smiled and rolled her eyes. Sam saw Carly's expression and said, "I'm not gonna eat them now. These are for after lunch." She put her pork chops back in her bag. "What is lunch, anyway?"

"I was gonna order barbecue chicken pizza."

"Make it half barbecue chicken, half ultimate meat-lovers?"

Carly laughed. "Fine." She picked up her hairbrush. "So, we should start getting ready in a couple hours. Your hair still needs to dry anyway."

Sam nodded. "So, what are we gonna do for two hours?"

"Should we put on some tunes?" Carly asked, opening up her Pear Tunes on her computer.

"Do it, baby!"

Carly hit the shuffle button, and "Freak the Freak Out" played. Sam did some manic dancing, flinging her wet hair around. Carly flinched as the specks of water came flying off and hit her in the face.

"Come on, Carls!" Sam shouted.

Carly shrugged and danced with Sam. This went on for about twenty minutes until the pizza showed up downstairs.

* * *

><p>A couple hours and a meaty pizza later, they started doing their hair and makeup. Sam's hair dried funny because she used Carly's shampoo. Instead of her usual soft curls, they'd kind of straightened out. She and Carly were sitting in front of her giant mirror TV, sharing Sam's curling iron.

Sam was dancing in her seat to the music from Carly's laptop. The song playing was a mash-up of "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and "Round and Round" by Selena Gomez. "Where'd you get this song?" she asked.

Carly glanced at her laptop. "Online. Someone made it and put it up for download, so I put it on my Pear Tunes."

Sam noticed Carly was jittery. She nudged her. "You seem excited."

Carly smiled. "I am. Aren't you?"

Sam nodded. "Mainly because I found out this morning what's gonna be on the menu at prom." She rubbed her hands together.

"Which is?"

"Chicken, filet mignon, roasted potatoes, and salad. I'll just skip the salad."

"Sounds awesome."

Sam got up from her chair. "And now all this talk of food is making Mama want her pork chops." She got her pork chops out of her bag and sat back down next to Carly.

"Don't contaminate the makeup with your chops," Carly said, looking at Sam's relfection.

"Mahh-hah," Sam said, tearing off a chunk with her teeth.

"And how are you gonna get ready with your hands all pork chop-ified?"

"I'll get ready when I'm done! It doesn't take me long to finish these."

Carly laughed. "Does Freddie know you're over here?"

"Yeah, I texted him. He's picking me up here at around 8."

"So's Zakk. Have they ever met?"

"Don't think so. I've told Freddie about him, though."

She polished off one pork chop and started on another. "Did you tell Spencer our plan for after prom yet?"

"Yup, last night. I told him we're going to the mini-fun park next to the arcade, and I'm sleeping over at your place."

"Awesome. We're all set."

* * *

><p>CARLY'S POV<p>

I was helping Sam zip up her dress when I heard Spencer call up, "Carly, Zakk's here!"

"I'll be right down!" I called back. I looked around and grabbed my clutch and my masquerade mask.

Sam looked at me. "Knock him dead, Carls."

"You're not coming down?"

"Nah, I still have to pin up my hair. I'll be down in a sec."

I nodded. "Want me to call you down when Freddie shows up?"

"Sure."

I walked down the stairs. Zakk and Spencer were in the living room on the couch. They turned around when they heard me come downstairs.

"Hey," Zakk said, standing up. "You look great."

"So do you," I replied. He really did look great. His hair was a little messy, his tux was straight-up black, and the flower on his lapel was a red rose. He was holding a corsage box. I walked around the couch while he opened it. The corsage was made of red roses to match the one he was wearing. Smiling, he took the corsage out and put it on my wrist.

"Thanks," I said, sitting down.

"No problem." Zakk sat down next to me.

"Where's Sam?" Spencer asked.

"Still upstairs. I told her I'll call her down when Freddie showed up."

* * *

><p>THIRD PERSON POV<p>

Freddie had successfully tuned out his mom when she lectured him about the dangers of prom last night. He reassured her last night that he, Carly, and Sam came up with a plan for prom (he did not explicitly mention what they would do after prom), and promised her he would have handi-wipes in the inside pocket of his tux.

When Freddie appeared in the living room in his prom tux, his mom dissolved into hysterical tears, crying about her baby boy going to prom. She blubbed incoherently enough for Freddie to escape from his apartment with the corsage he bought yesterday, and cross the hall to Carly's place. Sam had texted him to let him know to pick her up from there. Freddie knocked on the door. He heard Spencer yell, "Coming!" and the door opened.

"Hey, Freddie."

"Hey." Freddie still held on to the corsage box. The flowers were white to match the flower pinned to his lapel.

**Author's Request: Before reading any further, turn on "Firework" by Katy Perry. Use YouTube or iTunes, either one.**

Carly was sitting on the couch with a tall guy with black hair. She stood up when Freddie came in. Her hair was curled a little at the ends and the left side of it was pinned behind her ear with a sparkly light blue flower. She was clutching a matching light blue masquerade mask and purse. She was smiling. "Hi, Freddie. You look great."

"So do you," Freddie said, giving her a hug. In her heels, she was about an inch taller than him.

The guy she was sitting next to stood up. Carly looked back at him. "Oh, Freddie, this is Zakk."

"Hey," Zakk said, shaking Freddie's hand.

Freddie said, "You're Sam's cousin from Georgia, right?"

"Yeah. She told you about me?"

"Oh, yeah. She said you're trying to make it into music."

"'Try' being the key word."

"He plays guitar," Carly said, smiling.

"Ahh, that's what got you hooked," Freddie said, laughing a little.

"Well yeah." She looked at the top of the stairs. "You ready to do this?" Carly asked Freddie.

He nodded. She turned to the stairs and yelled, "Sam, get down here!" Carly walked around so she was standing behind Freddie.

* * *

><p>FREDDIE'S POV<p>

I saw a blue high-heeled shoe on the top step. A couple more steps down, and Sam came into view. Her hair was pulled in a half-updo, and she fit her blue dress perfectly. She was smiling a little nervously, but widely. I'd never seen her look that great.

My mouth literally dropped open. "Oh, my God."

She reached the bottom of the stairs and walked over to me. I was slightly speechless. When I found my voice again, all I could say was, "You look amazing."

"Thanks," she said.

I opened the box, took the corsage out and put it around her wrist. She smiled up at me, and I kissed her.

Spencer said, "Awwwwwww."

Sam and I looked over at him. He had a camera in his hands. "Shall we take some prom peek-tars?"

"Yeah, sure." We all grouped in front of the door and Spencer took a few pictures. A few with all four of us, some of just Carly and Zakk, and some of just me and Sam.

Carly's phone went off. "The limo's downstairs," she said, looking up from her phone.

"Let's go!" Sam said, doing a little cha-cha step heading towards the door.

"Bye, Spencer," Carly said.

"See you tomorrow, kiddo," he said, giving her a hug. "Have fun." He looked at Zakk. "Take good care of her."

"I will," Zakk said.

We set off downstairs to the limo outside, and we all got inside. As I put my arm around Sam's shoulders, the driver called from the front seat, "You guys ready?"

"Yup. Hit it!" Carly said.

The driver started the limo and off we went.

"You look awesome, Sam," Zakk said when they limo got past Main Street.

"Yeah, you made Freddie a little speechless," Carly remarked.

"That's what happens when we Pucketts clean up good," Sam said.

I smiled, pulled her in a little, and kissed the top of her head.

Carly asked, "You guys aren't nervous?"

"Why would we be nervous?" I asked.

"You're going public tonight."

Sam and I looked at each other. With all the other stuff going on, that thought didn't cross our minds.

Carly saw our faces. "You guys forgot?"

"Yeah, kinda," Sam said.

"Should we come up with a plan or something?" I asked.

She looked back at me. "You know, I don't care anymore. Let people be all shocked when we show up together."

"You sure?"

"Well, if you're cool with it."

I nodded. "We are graduating next month. Let's just do it."

**A/n: I'm working on something epic for the next chapter that involves Gibby. Prepare yourselves...**

**R&R!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/n: The final chapter is here! And it took me FOREVER. I would've posted it this morning before I left for class, but it wasn't done yet.**

**iCarly is not mine and neither are the songs used in the chapter, not even the mash-up.**

Sam and Freddie felt a new kind of excitement as the limo drew closer to Ridgeway. Sam, in particular, wanted to see the faces of the girls that kept asking Freddie to prom. Freddie was kinda looking forward to that, too. He knew those girls would be pissed, but not pissed enough to cross Sam.

When the limo pulled up, Freddie, Sam, Carly, and Zakk had their masquerade masks on. Freddie shifted in his seat, so he could be out first, then pull Sam out by her hand. He looked down and saw that Sam had something on her ankle.

"What's that?" He pointed to it.

Sam looked down. "Oh." She lifted the hem of her dress. "I took one of my mom's old house arrest bracelets and made a cell phone cradle. Pretty neat, huh? It's like one of those gun holsters you can strap to your ankle."

_She's one of a kind_, Freddie thought.

The limo stopped on the sidewalk in front of the school. There was a huge crowd of very well dressed people on the front lawn of the school. Various teachers were armed with cameras taking group shots.

Freddie opened the side door and stepped out of the car. He held his hand out, and pulled Sam out. Carly and Zakk came out next.

"That's a lot of teachers," Carly said, looking around.

"Yeah." Freddie stood on his tiptoes to see over people's heads. "Hopefully, none of the strict ones are around, like Ms. Briggs and Mr. Howard."

"Nah, I heard Mr. Stern talking," Sam said. "Briggs and Howard weren't invited. He said they spoiled last year's prom when they started kicking out girls if their dresses were shorter than ankle-length."

"Huh. Figures," Freddie said, shrugging.

Mr. Palladino weaved his way around the other kids to get to the four of them. He offered to take a couple shots of them. When he saw Sam and Freddie together, he got this weird look on his face but didn't say anything. Sam looked around for jealous faces, but didn't find any. Everyone was still getting group shots done. Eventually, the teachers began letting people into the gym.

The gym had been completely transformed. The ceiling was full of twinkling lights and streamers. Silver stars hung from the ceiling. There were circular tables with different colored tablecloths all around the gym. Right at the front of the gym was a podium, a DJ's turntable, and a set of multi-colored lights pointed in different directions. In the middle of the gym was a large empty space where everyone could dance. Next to the entrance to the gym was a photo area with blue-gray backdrop and an archway of white roses.

Carly looked at Zakk. "Wanna go take more pictures?"

He nodded. "Sure."

There was a short line for the pictures. Freddie looked at Sam. "You want more pictures?"

She looked at the line and nodded. "Yeah, why not? It'll complete the prom experience."

Sam and Freddie got behind Carly and Zakk on line. Sam could hear whispering and rustling behind her. She knew the whispers were about her and Freddie.

Gibby and Tasha were having their pictures taken, and they were taking forever. This pose, then that pose, and the obligatory Charlie's Angels pose.

"GET A MOVE ON, GIBBY!" Sam yelled.

Gibby knew that yell anywhere. After quickly glancing at Sam, he took Tasha's hand and they walked off together. Carly and Zakk went up and got their pictures done. While Sam watched them, she distinctly heard someone behind her whisper, "No, seriously. He came with Sam!"

Sam turned around. Shannon Mitchell was whispering to one of her friends, but stopped when she saw Sam was looking at her. Sam turned back around. She saw Shannon's face when she was whispering to her friend. So worth it.

After Carly and Zakk were done, it was Sam and Freddie's turn. When they turned to face the photographer, they saw a huge crowd of girls watching them. Sam recognized them as the mob from Tuesday. They each had a look of jealous disbelief on their faces. She looked at Freddie.

"See their faces?" she asked.

"Yup. Priceless." He was smiling at her.

Sam caught sight of Shannon's face again. She could practically read her mind. "How can you be with her? It's Sam!"

The photographer took a few shots, and Sam and Freddie found their table and sat with Carly, Zakk, Gibby, and Tasha.

"So, what are you guys gonna do after prom?" Gibby asked.

"Well, we were gonna go party-hopping at first and stick around wherever it seemed awesome," Freddie said. "But we axed that. We're going to Seattle Funland by the arcade. Sam found out they were having this 24-hour park day starting at midnight, so we're taking advantage of that."

"You're going to Funland dressed in prom stuff?"

"Nah, we're going to my place to change first," Sam said. "I know Carly would freak if we went on the Dragon Coaster and ripped her dress."

Carly laughed. "Yeah, I would freak. I'd freak even more if I wore this on the Super Flight, because that goes upside down. Or the Log Flume and Funland Plunge. I'd get soaked."

"You're gonna be at Funland all night?" Gibby asked.

"Probably not. Just until we get tired," Carly said.

"But, we're still gonna have the _crack_* tonight!" Sam declared, dancing a little in her seat.

Carly looked at her. "The what?"

"The _crack_!"

Carly looked at Zakk. He shrugged. She looked back at Sam. "I'm not sure that's exactly legal, Sam."

"No, not that. C-r-a-i-c. Craic. It's an expression. It means we're gonna have a blast."

Carly looked somewhere between confused and bewildered. "Where do they use that expression?"

Sam shrugged. "I dunno. Ireland, I think."

Up at the front of the gym, the DJ spoke into his microphone, "All right, everybody. I'd like to welcome all of you to the Ridgeway High School Senior Prom!"

Everyone clapped and cheered.

"Now, everybody get to the dance floor so we can get this party started!"

Amidst the cheering, everyone stood up from their tables and made their way to the dance floor. The DJ put on "4 Minutes" by Madonna and Justin Timberlake.

Sam never really pictured herself having this much fun at prom. She assumed she'd be doing her manic dancing with Carly, but that it would just be the two of them. But being with Freddie seemed better. She liked the way he smiled at her, and he joined in when she did her crazy dancing to "God is a DJ".

After "Since U Been Gone" and "Rock God", the music stopped. "Okay, I think it's time to mix things up around here," the DJ called out.

The crowd cheered.

"This one goes out to the ladies out here tonight," he continued. "You all know how to EXPRESS YOURSELF, because you were BORN THIS WAY!"

The crowd cheered even louder. The DJ put his headphones back on, and took to the turntable. With a few flicks of the wrists, the press of a few buttons, and remix of a few tracks, he made a "Born This Way"/ "Express Yourself" mash-up.

"This is awesome!" Carly yelled to Sam.

Sam took one of Carly's hands and twirled her around.

Right after "Come On Over" and the "Cha Cha Slide", the music stopped again.

"Okay, let's make some room on the dance floor," the DJ called out. "Someone in here is about to make a small tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson."

The crowd made a giant empty space. Sam and Carly looked around.

"Who's making the tribute?" Carly asked.

Then a voice boomed out, "Make room for Gibby!"

Gibby made his way through the crowd, holding Tasha's hand. The song switched to "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". As Tasha made her way to the other side, Gibby took off his tux jacket and threw it in the crowd.

Carly's eyes got wide. "Oh, my God."

"No way," Sam said in an awed voice.

Tasha was dancing a little on one side of the floor. Gibby motioned her to come with his finger. He walked forward and they met in the middle. They started doing this choreographed dance. There was finger waggling, head bobbing, and pelvic thrusting.

Gibby was mouthing along to the lyrics in the song, shaking his hips around, and strutting from one end of the floor to the other. He and Tasha went back and forth between something resembling a ballroom cha-cha and mimicking some of Michael Jackson's signature dance moves. It was so over the top and so unbelievably Gibby. It was a sight someone would have to see to believe. Sam reached down, took her phone out of her makeshift ankle cradle, and began filming. "This has to go on iCarly!" she shouted.

Freddie laughed. "It's too epic not to go on iCarly."

"I hope he tries to break dance!" Sam said back.

Tasha was twirling around, letting her dress flow around in the air. She twirled to Gibby. He took her hand, did a sort of ballroom twirl, then lifted her up. Her back was to his chest, she was facing outward, one leg bent, her hands up in the air, and Gibby rotated around and around. She shifted so she rested her back on his left shoulder, bending her body so her head was upside down, her hair flowing towards the floor. They looked like a pair of ice dancers.

"This is insane!" Carly said.

"So, he's one of your friends, huh?" Zakk asked.

"Yup. He's Gibby!"

Gibby put Tasha down on the floor, and they did this little spin where they ended up on their knees. They fell onto their left sides and made this weird pose where one leg was crossed over the other, their left hands were on their hips, and their head were resting on their right hands.

Carly started to cheer. Slowly other people started to join in until everyone was cheering, even the DJ.

"Whooo! Okay, well, we all need to recover from that," the DJ said, looking through his tunes. "How about some Fall Out Boy?"

"FALL OUT BOY!" Sam yelled. She quickly stuck her cell phone in her ankle cradle.

The DJ played "Dance, Dance". Sam went back to her usual manic dancing. Carly and Freddie looked at her, shrugged, and joined her. Carly grabbed Zakk's hand and pulled him into the manic dancing fray.

A few seconds into the fray, Zakk yelled, "MOSH PIT!"

Sam cheered, and started moshing with Zakk. Carly and Freddie looked a little nervous, but joined in all the same. By the song was over, they were a little tired.

The DJ called out, "Whoo! All right. Well, you can all sit back down at your tables, and dinner will be served."

Sam was the first one back at their table. Right next to the photo area was a buffet table full of food. Sam knew it wasn't ready yet because the tin covers weren't off the trays. She was eyeing the table, sitting on the edge of her chair. As soon as the covers came off, Sam took off like a rocket, grabbing a plate and silverware from the end of the table, and loading her plate with chicken and filet mignon. She was back at the table before Carly even left to join the buffet line.

Carly was looking at her phone, and looked up when Sam came back with a full plate. Carly clicked a button on her phone. "Fourteen seconds. That's your personal best."

"Yeah, baby," Sam said, picking up her fork and knife and diving into her chicken.

Carly left to join the line just as Freddie came back with a full plate and sat next to Sam. "How's the chicken?" he asked her.

Sam's mouth was full so she just gave Freddie a double thumbs up. She swallowed a big mouthful and added, "The filet mignon is awesome, too."

Gibby and Tasha came back to the table with Carly and Zakk.

Freddie put his fork down. "Okay, Gib. What the chiz was that dance you and Tasha did?"

"We worked on it for two weeks after school," Gibby said. "We watched a bazillion videos of Michael Jackson dancing on SplashFace, and we took ballroom classes off the Internet."

Carly froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. "Where do you get Internet ballroom dance lessons?"

"At twoleftfeet .com. All they have are videos of actual professional dancers telling you what to do. We copied everything they did."

"It's easier than it sounds," Tasha said. She took a bite of salad.

"You failed at the moonwalk, by the way," Sam said, finishing up her filet mignon.

Carly and Gibby looked at her. She looked up from her plate. "What? Just being honest."

Gibby rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you say. I nailed everything! I watched those music videos until my eyes started bleeding."

Sam opened her mouth to retort, but Carly said, "Ah!"

Sam picked up her plate and went back for seconds. Carly looked down at her own plate and her half eaten filet mignon. "I really need to find out how she eats so fast."

"She doesn't eat, she inhales," Freddie said.

"It's true," Sam said, coming back from the buffet table. "It tastes better that way."

"Does it also taste better when it's STOLEN OUT OF MY LOCKER?" Gibby yelled from across the table.

Sam stood up and leaned across the table. "YES! IT IS ESPECIALLY DELICIOUS IF I STEAL IT FROM YOUR LOCKER!" She sat back down.

Carly looked over at Sam. "Must you always use Gibby as a punching bag?"

"Well, he makes it too easy!" She took a big bite of filet mignon.

People started getting back onto the dance floor. Carly pulled out a case of Flic-Flac mints and popped a couple. She passed it to Sam, who took a few and offered some to Freddie.

The DJ started to play "Something 'Bout Love". Carly squealed a little. "I love this song!" she said.

Zakk took Carly's hand and brought her back to the dance floor. Just as Sam and Freddie were about to follow them, Gibby turned to Tasha and said, "Ready for part two?"

Sam turned around. "There's a part two?"

"Who's the tribute for this time?" Freddie asked.

"No tribute. We're just gonna freestyle it," Gibby said, dancing in his seat.

"Oy. Don't do a part two." Sam said.

"We have to, we prepared for-"

"DON'T. DO IT." Sam stared Gibby right in the eyes until he recoiled. She walked away from the table, dragging Freddie with her.

"Come on, the Michael Jackson dance wasn't so bad. It was kind of epic," Freddie said.

"Eh, in a Gibby way," Sam said.

"You wanted him to break dance," Freddie noted.

"Just so I could watch him fail at it, like he did with the moonwalk."

In between "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "Kiss & Tell", Sam looked over at Carly and Zakk. Carly was smiling bigger than Sam had ever seen, and Zakk truly looked like he was enjoying himself.

Sam danced her way over to Carly and Zakk. She poked her head in between the two of them. "Enjoying yourselves?"

Carly laughed. "Yeah. A lot."

"Cotton-Eyed Joe" came on next, which caused a lot of the people to scream and cheer. Even Zakk got into it. "I missed this," he said to Carly. "I haven't danced to this song since I was fourteen."

"Shark in the Water" came on afterwards. The four of them decided to take a little breather at their table.

"You look like you're having a lot more fun that I thought," Sam said to Zakk.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I think the 'Cotton-Eyed Joe' got me going a little better."

"See?" Carly said. "The music's not so bad."

"No, it still sucks eggs. The only songs worth remembering were the Fall Out Boy one, and the Michael Jackson one where your weird friend did that dance routine."

"All right, everyone grab a partner. We're gonna slow things down a little," the DJ said.

**Author's Request: Before reading any further, turn on "Glitter In the Air" by P!nk. Use YouTube or iTunes, either one.**

Freddie looked at Sam and jerked his head in the direction of the dance floor. She nodded. He took her hand, and they went to the dance floor together. They found a spot on the floor. Sam put her arms around Freddie's neck, and he put his arms around her waist. He pulled her in and gently rested his forehead against hers.

Carly and Zakk took another spot on the floor. "How's the night so far? Scale of one to ten?" Zakk asked her.

Carly smiled. "Pretty much a ten. You?"

"Hmmmm, music aside, it's a ten." He looked over Carly's shoulder at Sam and Freddie. "You know, I've never seen Sam like this before."

"You mean all glammed up?" Carly asked.

"Not just that. She's just happier, and at peace with the world."

"True. She hasn't hit anyone all night. She just yelled at Gibby a couple times."

"But she's still eating like Sam," Carly remarked. She turned around to look at Sam and Freddie together. She smiled.

"You know, she's told me a lot about Freddie," Zakk said. "Before last year, it was never any particularly nice, though."

"Yeah, I remember when we started iCarly about four years ago, they were always yelling in each other's faces. And now, look how far they've come."

Meanwhile, across the floor, Freddie was lost in Sam's blue eyes. It wasn't until she spoke that he came back down to Earth.

"Did you really mean what you said to Carly?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, everything," Freddie said, nodding.

"Even the stuff you said about love?"

Freddie lifted his mask up above his eyes. "Of course." He reached up and lifted Sam's mask so it rested on her forehead. He wanted to see her whole face. "I love you, Sam."

Sam's face broke into the prettiest smile Freddie had ever seen. She seemed a little speechless.

"You can say it back, you know," Freddie said, jostling her a little with his arms.

She laughed a little. "I love you, too."

Freddie smiled, leaned down a little, and kissed her.

**A/n: THE END!**

**And I figured I'd be like Dan and post some Fun Facts:**

**- Some of the songs on my iCarly playlist that I didn't use in the last two chapters include "Contagious" by Avril Lavigne (very Sam, but more Sam around iOMG), "Parachutes and Airplanes" by David Archuleta (more of a Creddie song, and it didn't really fit anywhere), and "Make It Shine" from Victorious (in the context of Schneiderverse, it's not an already existing song like "Freak the Freak Out" and "Give It Up").**

**- As far as I know, there's one good mash-up of "Born This Way" and "Express Yourself", and it's sung by Ariana Grande. You can find it on her YouTube channel.**

**- *"The craic" is indeed an Irish expression, and "to have the craic" does mean to have a great time, like at a party. It's pronounced "crack".**

**- Seattle Funland is a parody of a real-life amusement park not far from me called Rye Playland. All the rides mentioned in the chapter exist for real at Playland.**

**- If you don't really know what a ballroom cha-cha looks like, look up Shawn Johnson's cha-cha from **_**Dancing With the Stars**_**. That's kind of what I based Gibby and Tasha's dance on.**


End file.
